


It's Been 29 Years Coming

by dontbelasagnax



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Baker Gabriel (Supernatural), Castiel and Jimmy Novak are Twins, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dean is a Sweetheart, Everyone Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced Sex, Lawyer Sam Winchester, M/M, Mild Language, Minor Character Death, Minor Dorothy Baum/Charlie Bradbury, Minor Ellen Harvelle/Bobby Singer, Minor Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester, Minor John Winchester/Mary Winchester, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-05-05 23:29:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14629287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontbelasagnax/pseuds/dontbelasagnax
Summary: Dean Winchester and Castiel Novak have been best friends for as long as they can remember. Relaxed into comfortable familiarity, they don't realize their relationship is getting a little too cozy until it's too late.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here is my first official destiel fic. I've already written the first 3 chapters, so get ready for that. This is going to be a roller coaster ;)
> 
> More tags to be added as the story progresses.
> 
> Previously titled "Life Just Slips in Through a Back Door"
> 
> As a quick disclaimer, all mentions of sex in this fanfic are less graphic than:
> 
> A) Dean's obsession with anime porn and Busty Asian Beauties
> 
> B) "I've got the kielbasa you ordered." aka that time Gabriel gave Sam and Dean a porno he starred in
> 
> C) The entire born again virgin episode
> 
> D) "If the pizza man truly loves this babysitter... why does he keep slapping her rear?" aka that time Castiel watched porn (and Dean *unhelpfully* later said, "Well, now he's got a boner.")
> 
> E) "Rhonda Hurley. We were, uh...19. She made us try on her panties. They were pink. And satiny And you know what? We kind of liked it."

"Cas, get your lazy ass outta bed! Work starts in 30 minutes!" Dean's yell carried through the walls over the high pitched screeching of Cas' alarm and the faint clanging of pots and pans.

Cas groaned and scrubbed an eye crusted with sleep before blindly reaching to silence the alarm clock. The brunet welcomed the quieter atmosphere with open arms as he dressed for the school day and prattled into the kitchen.

His roommate stood before the oven, a pan in one hand and a spatula in the other. The scent of apple pancakes wafted through the air—almost making up for the rude awakening. Cas spied a cup of coffee on the island counter, next to two empty plates, and scuffled into the room to reap his prize.

At the sound of socked feet shuffling and a chair creaking, Dean turned around to see Cas quietly sipping coffee while seated at the counter, bleary eyes struggling in the light.

"Mornin' sunshine."

Cas grunted a greeting and took another sip. Dean chuckled and flipped a browning pancake. The sandy haired man knew better than to expect anything coherent to come out his best friend's mouth before he finished his first cup of coffee.

"Dorothy's out sick, so Charlie's manning the library today."

The blue eyed brunet hummed into his cup in acknowledgement.

"Kiddo practically jumped at the chance to fill in for 'er. She's so whipped." He scraped the steaming pancake onto a plate piled with the apple filled delicacies. "Last time I saw her like this, she was mooning over Scarlett Johansson." Another chuckle. He poured a puddle of batter onto the pan and dropped a couple apple chunks in. A pinch of cinnamon dappled the pale, bubbling mixture. "Which reminds me, I got book club after school today..." Dean licked an index finger coated in cinnamon, forgetting his train of thought. He shook his head and moved onto a different subject. "You good to pick your niece up from school? Jimmy told me they're still up in Sioux Falls; said they won't be home till Wednesday."

"Yes, Dean," Cas stated irritability, "I already assured Amelia yesterday that I am more than capable of getting Claire home." He swirled the remnants of his coffee with a frown.

"No need to get your panties in a bunch, princess. Just giving your tired ass a friendly reminder." Dean scraped the last pancake off the pan and onto the waiting plate.

Castiel rolled his eyes.

Dean reached into a cupboard and pulled out maple syrup for himself, and honey for his best friend. Depositing the toppings on the island, he carried the plate of pancakes over and slid them across the counter top. The green eyed man sat down next to Cas and stacked a few pancakes onto his ready plate. Castiel did the same.

"Thank you Dean," he said after a few minutes into the meal.

"Welcome, buddy."

The room was silent, save for the sound of the roommates chewing and the soft chirps of birds enjoying the brisk weather.

"Oh—right, book club!" Dean abruptly blurted as he remembered what he was talking about earlier. "Since Dorothy's off sick, she can't help me out. Asked Charlie for help but she decided to be a pain in my ass." With an off-put sigh and a mouth full of maple syrup saturated pancakes, he informed Cas, "Had to bribe the bitch with donuts from Gabriel's."

Cas let out a huff of laughter and shook his head fondly. "That would generally do it."

"I know right? Damn good donuts..."

They finished breakfast in relative silence, leaving a comment here and there about something funny Sammy said the other day ("Dean, not everyone wants their arteries clogged by the age of forty.") or plans for the weekend ("Charlie has been meaning to get me caught up on Game of Thrones.")

Before long, they were loading the dishwasher, gurgling mouthwash, grabbing their school bags, settling into the impala, and braving the morning commute.

  
~•~◇~•~   
  


Dean kicked the door stopper and silently ushered his students into the classroom with the wave of his hand. The kids flooded into the room, chatting with their classmates as they took their seats. Dean walked to his desk and leaned against it, waiting for the kids to follow the directions written in blue on the whiteboard.

Fourth period was always a bit rowdy—the kids were finally awake, but they were raring to go to lunch. Plus most of them were  _ drama  _ kids _. _ Ick.

Dean loudly cleared his throat with a fisted hand over his mouth, "Ah-hem."

A hush fell over the class as the students fell out of their conversations and awkwardly looked to Dean, whose eyes were darting pointedly between his students and the board. The more attentive kids caught on quickly and sifted through their backpacks to follow the instructions written on the whiteboard.

"Today we start reading part two of  _ Fahrenheit 451 _ . I'll be splitting the class into groups of three to discuss what we've read. No you won't get to pick partners—" A collective groan rang through the room, eliciting a tsk from Dean, "and I don't care that  _ 'Susy stole my boyfriend' _ ; man up and participate in the conversation." He clasped his hands together. "Any questions?"

No one raised their hand; most of them looked like they just wanted to get this over with and head to lunch. Dean could sympathize.

"Alright, open up to page sixty seven..."

  
~•~◇~•~

  
The bell rang, leading the teenagers to scramble to pack up their belongings.

"Class is dismissed—remember to study for Monday's quiz!" Castiel yelled over the beehive of students swarming out of his classroom. A few kids mumbled a polite chorus of "bye Mr. Novak" and "see you on Monday Mr. Novak" on their way to lunch.

Cas swiped the thermos of coffee off his desk before walking to the door. Stepping into the hallway, he wove through the sea of hungry, hormonal teens to get to Dean's classroom across the hall. He flippantly wondered what his best friend made them for lunch today.

The two had a system. Dean would make lunch—since Cas' idea of a good lunch was peanut and jelly sandwiches—and on their way to the teacher's lounge, he would pass the lunch to Cas.

Once, Cas tried to make something other than pb&j's, which resulted in burnt pasta—yes you heard that correctly. How Cas managed to burn the pasta was still a mystery to Dean, but from then on they agreed to let the Winchester do all the cooking.

Cas stood in the doorway of Dean's classroom. The latter was sat at his desk typing something on his laptop.

"Dean?"

"Gimme a sec, Cas; I forgot to send in attendance." Dean tapped a few buttons before closing the laptop. He slid open a drawer and pulled out two brown paper sacs. Lunches in hand, the lighter haired man headed over to his friend with a smirk and a gleam in his eye. They walked down the hallway side-by-side. A few students loitered the halls, chatting amongst their small friend groups as they munched on chips and other snacks.

"What is for lunch today, Dean?"

"Leftover pesto pasta salad from last night. Just added some fresh tomatoes, but it's pretty much the same. Also, I packed some of those oatmeal raisin cookies mom made that you love  _ so much _ ." Dean had to restrain himself from gagging. He had no idea how Cas liked those weird ass cookies that (sorry mom) tasted like shit.

"Sounds great, Dean." Cas beamed. The skin around his eyes crinkled adorably— _ what no _ —that wasn't adorable. Nope. No idea where that came from. Dean abashedly averted his eyes from Cas' gaze. They rounded the corner, walking past a trophy case.

The beeping of a microwave could be heard as they stopped at a door marked  _ 'teacher's lounge' _ . Cas gripped the doorknob and opened the door with a twist.

    Charlie was sitting at the large round table in the center of the room, her Star Wars lunch pail and Capri Sun juice box in front of her. She reached into a pink tupperware container and popped a few pomegranate seeds into her mouth.

Rowena sat at the neighboring, albeit a little smaller, table holding a mug of steaming tea. Her eyeliner looked a little fiercer than usual. Must've been a grouchy morning. Missouri sat next to her, blowing on something that resembled chilli. Benny stood in the corner of the room at the counter. He pulled a tv-dinner out of the microwave.

Dean let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding at the realization that Becky wasn't there. That lady was a handful.

Charlie was the first to notice them.

"What's up bitches?" The bubbly computer science teacher greeted her friends.

"Heya kiddo." Dean ruffled the redhead's hair and pulled out a chair beside her.

"Charlie." Cas nodded his head in acknowledgement and sat next to Dean, who slid a paper bag over to him.

"Thank you." Cas popped open the Tupperware container that was in the bag and stabbed a noodle with his fork.

Dean hummed and pulled a slice of pizza wrapped in plastic wrap out of his bag. His phone buzzed before he could take a bite. The English teacher huffed but unlocked his phone to see a message from Sam.

  
**Bitch [12:17 PM] You free to meet up at the Roadhouse tomorrow?**

  
**Dean [12:17 PM] yeah sure**

**  
** **Bitch [12:19 PM] Okay, good.**

**  
** **Dean [12:20 PM] any particular reason for this** **_meeting_ ** **?**

**  
** **Bitch [ is typing ]**

  
Dean watched his screen as the ellipsis appeared and disappeared. Apparently this question warranted multiple tries.

  
**Bitch [12:22 PM] We need to talk.**

**  
** **Dean [12:22 PM] well that's not ominous at** **all...**

**Dean [12:23 PM] ...are you breaking up with me Sammy? I'm hurt!**

  
**Bitch [12:23 PM] Shut up**

**Bitch [12:23 PM] Just be there at 6.**

**  
** **Dean [12:24 PM] if you say so, Samantha.**

  
Dean visualized Sam's famous bitch face, which was more than likely in use at the moment. He chuckled at the imagery and shut off his phone.

"Sam?"

"Yeah, wants me to meet him at the Roadhouse tomorrow but won't say why. Weird kid." Dean stole Charlie's juice box and took a long, noisy slurp. 

She glowered at him in a way that could only mean  _ war _ .

"He has his reasons. I'm sure it's nothing bad." Cas reasoned and took a bite out of the cookie.

Dean shrugged.

"Hey can I get a ride home? Humphrey broke down last night. I had to take the city bus this morning. Do you know how many smokers ride the frigging bus? Too many. Even with the windows open I still couldn't breathe." Humphrey being her yellow VW Beetle. Not everyone had an original name for their car like Baby.

"Cas is taking Baby, so we might have to wait a while—unless you wanna walk to Gabe's."

"Actually Dean, assuming Claire is ready to go home directly after school gets out, I should be able to make it back here before book club ends."

"Oh, well I guess you're comin' with us."

"Your queen kindly thanks you for your service." Charlie quipped regally. That earned an eye roll from Dean.

Lunch passed quickly, and before they knew it, the bell had rung and it was time to head to class.

  
~•~◇~•~   
  


Book club was fairly tame. Dean's only job was to supervise and make sure the kids stayed on topic. Sure they could get pretty hyped, but it was easy to keep them on task.    
Dean sat in the swivel chair behind the counter, fiddling his fingers. Charlie was putting some books away on a nearby shelf. The kids were sitting around a decrepit orange oval table. The sickly paint was scuffed and peeling, worn from years of use. Kevin was picking at the orange paint, seemingly bored by whatever Marie had to say. Alex was skimming through her own book, not paying Marie any attention either. Maeve seemed to be the only one remotely interested in the girl's rant; and even she was dismissing her opinion.

"It's just a book, Marie. Besides, conflict is good for the plot."

"But don't you think—"

"No."

"But—"

"Guys, can you just stop?" Alex snapped, closing her book with a  _ thud _ . "Aurora Rose is confused. The life she had built is crumbling down around her. She doesn't need a prince forcing her into a relationship, regardless of the fact she was 'in love' with him in her previous life. She'll figure out if she wants to be with him when they're finished with the quest."

That shut up Marie, but they could tell she still had something she wanted to add.

"What?!"

"Well, is it really love if she has to think about it?"

"Love at first sight doesn't really happen like it does in Disney movies. Just because she doesn't immediately  _ know _ if she loves him doesn't mean that she isn't in love or won't fall in love with him. Give her a bit to process how she is feeling and maybe she'll realise it's love, maybe she won't."

"Can we read the  _ Cursed Child _ now?" Kevin asked irritability. "You know I haven't even read that stupid Sleeping Beauty book."

"Sure Kevin. Where were we? Page 73?"

They started on  _ Harry Potter and the Cursed Child _ , the bickering coming to a close with the common interest.

Charlie popped up from behind Dean's chair. "Look at those little bookworms."

"Jesus—Charlie! You don't just sneak up on someone like that."

"Sorry D, but look at them. Reminds me of my high school days." She sighed wistfully.

"What, when you realized you were a walking, talking rainbow?"

"No smartass," she smacked his arm,"I meant when I actually had time to read for fun."

"Oh,  _ that _ ."

The redhead slapped his arm again.

" _ Ow _ ," he rubbed his newly injured arm, "What was that for?"

She settled cross—legged on the counter and stared daggers at Dean.

"Come on Char, what's the fun in having a gay best friend if she doesn't let you make fun of her gayness?"

"No, I'm  _ Sam's _ gay best friend;  _ you _ have a different gay best friend." A smug smirk threatened to break out across Charlie's face.

It took him a few drawn out moments before he realized what she meant.

He balked.

"Wha— _ Cas _ ? No, dude, he is  _ not _ gay!"

Charlie raised a challenging eyebrow.

He backtracked a bit. "I—I mean I've never actually seen him with a guy..."

"Trust me, Dean bean. I know these things." She patted his shoulder reassuringly. "...But getting back to the important part of our conversation—"

Dean wasn't exactly sure what could be more important than the revelation that his best friend since childhood  _ was gay _ , but Dean went with the flow. Anything to get away from a potential chick flick moment.

"And what's that?"

"I've had  _ Harry Potter and the Cursed Child _ for months, and I still haven't been able to read it! After my Game of Thrones marathon with Cas this weekend, I am totally diving back into the Harry Potter realm," the redhead spouted. It was a wonder how easily Charlie could change tracks. "Oh, and don't even  _ think _ of texting me until Monday rolls around if you still want that pretty face of your attached to your neck. I don't want any distractions."

"Duly noted, Charles."

  
~•~◇~•~

  
It shouldn't bother him. It really shouldn't. Really. It's not like it  _ changed _ anything. Cas was still Cas. He's still the same guy who shares videos of baby birds flying for the first time on Facebook. He's still the same guy who doesn't understand memes, "Dean, why are all my students identifying as Jeff?". He's still the same guy who spews random facts about bees when there's a lull in a conversation.

Just something unnerved him about it. And it's not like he's homophobic— _ Jesus _ —anything but that. The first thing he did when Charlie came out to him was engulf the sobbing redhead in a bear hug and tell her that she was loved and accepted. One time he and Gabe got so wasted that they ended up making out on vomit stained couch. And he didn't hate it. So, in no way, shape, or form was Dean even remotely homophobic. Okay, maybe that last point was a bit of a stretch—but still—he wasn't homophobic.

It's just, well,  _ fuck _ . He felt like it's something he should've known. How could he have not known his best friend of 28 years was gay?!

And the more he thought about it, the more riled up he got.

How could Cas just  _ forget _ to let his closest friend in on such an integral part of his life? Did he not trust Dean enough to share that secret?

Dean visibly flinched at the thought.

The rumble of the impala's engine pulled Dean out of his reverie. Cas drove them out of the intersection, the whole car rocking like a boat on the wide turn.

God, he really shouldn't be thinking about this right now—with Cas literally within reach and Charlie chattering away in the backseat.

With a huff, Dean leaned his head on the passenger door and watched the blurs of city landscape pass by. He resolved to ponder the subject at a more suitable time; preferably alone in the comfort of his bedroom.

Yes, until then.

  
~•~◇~•~

  
Castiel knew something was amiss with Dean ever since he picked up the English teacher up from school. The whole ride to their apartment, Dean kept tuning in and out of conversations. Usually, Dean was very attentive whenever someone besides himself was behind the wheel of Baby. The man is oddly protective of the black beauty. But today his mind was elsewhere. Cas would like to think that Dean was finally trusting him to be careful with Baby, but he knew better. It only got worse once they got home.

"What are we having for dinner?" Cas asked as he set his bag on the coffee table. He wanted to get most of his students' work graded so he could enjoy the weekend. He pulled out third period's folder, a pen, and his trusty reading glasses.

"Hmm?" Dean absentmindedly replied from the kitchen.

"Dinner, Dean."

"Oh, uh, I was thinking burgers again."    
A dull buzz followed the thud of the fridge door sounded.

"Sounds good." Cas licked his thumb and leafed through the assignments.

  
~•~◇~•~

  
"Dean, just spit it out."

"Huh?"

The two of them were sitting on the sofa; Cas cross legged and Dean with an arm across the back of the sofa, fingers tapping insistently. Reruns of Dr. Sexy M.D. were playing on the modestly sized tv on the wall.

"Something has been on your mind since I picked you up from school. What's wrong?" 

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong." He replied far too quickly. Cas narrowed his eyes.

"Dean.." Cas warned with an arched brow. Dean huffed and pulled both hands into his lap, staring intently at the clasped fingers.

"Charlie told me you're gay."

"Yes, and?" Cas implored dismissively. He really didn't see the issue. Dean looked up at the blue eyed man with furrowed brows.

" _ And.. _ "

" _ And _ , you've known for ages."

"I  _ what _ —Cas, I  _ just _ found out! From Charlie!"

"No you didn't."

"Cas, I'm pretty sure I'd remember if my best friend  _ told me _ he was gay."

"I didn't tell you per se, I just introduced you to my boyfriend at the time."

" _ Wha—who, when _ ?"

"Dean, you literally walked in on Samandriel and I while we were on a date." Castiel deadpanned. All he got for in reply was a blank stare so Cas continued. "Remember in highschool when you worked at that old coffee shop? Well I forgot you were working on Wednesdays and we ran into you. If my memory serves me right, I said to you,  _ "Hello Dean. This is my date Samandriel." And you replied with, "Nice to meet ya Sammy. Don't get too wild, kiddos." _ ”

Realization seemed to dawn on Dean.  " _ Dude _ , I thought he was your study date," he let out a low groan and scrubbed a hand over his face, "Y'know how you were always tutoring kids. God, I'm  _ such _ an idiot."

"I concur."

Dean rolled his eyes and gave Cas that heart wrenchingly fond smile. "You're a dork."

Castiel couldn't think of a retort, so they left it at that.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tfw watches Game of Thrones in canon so I decided to add that even though I don't watch it. 
> 
> Books referenced are "Once Upon a Dream: A Twisted Tale" by Liz Braswell and "Harry Potter and the Cused Child" by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany.  
> I highly recommend Once Upon a Dream, it's a total mind-fuck in the best way. I haven't read Cursed Child yet, but I've been meaning to steal it from my brother.
> 
> Also, I know you can still be homophobic and have kissed someone of the same sex. It was just Dean's reasoning in his brain lol
> 
> I didn't put an outing trigger warning because Cas thought he already came out to Dean, but please let me know if you want one.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lil domestic scene for Destiel and we learn that Sam is a bitch. But isn't that his job as a little brother?

Dean started the day off grumpy as Hell because _of course_ his alarm was set on the weekend.

    Disgruntled and bleary-eyed, he shuffled into the kitchen. Knowing full well that Cas wouldn't be up until an hour or two passed, Dean brewed a fresh pot of coffee.

    Although he generally hated mornings, Saturday mornings weren't too bad. Because it was too fucking early on a weekend, he had a few hours to himself. A few hours without smelly, loud, hormonal teenagers and annoying co-workers droning on about meaningless things. He was still silently berating himself for setting the alarm, but the early morning was kinda nice. The sun was rising, causing the sky to turn bright orange with wisps of pink. Birds were chirping eagerly. The cup of liquid gold warming his hands was doing wonders for wiping away his foul disposition.

    He could admit, for once in his life, that mornings weren't that bad.

    And _of course_ the neighbor's dog chose that exact moment to start barking.

    Oh well. Back to thinking mornings were shit.

    Dean downed the rest of his coffee and set the cup in the sink with a clatter. He'd deal with it later. For now, he had a hot date with Vonnegut.

  
~•~◇~•~

  
Castiel rose with a loud yawn. Like most weekends, he awoke at ten am. Not too late, but not too early. He greatly valued the time he got to sleep in.

    Cas slipped on his blue, fuzzy bathrobe. Like weekdays, the scent of coffee permeated their apartment. Dean always made coffee first thing in the morning.

    Cas filled a mug with coffee and walked across the hall to the living room. He leant against the doorway and admired the view. The sun was shining through the bay window, casting a golden glow to the room; dust particles floated through the beam of light. Though the back of the sofa was to him, Cas could see Dean's bare feet hanging over the arm of the couch.

    It momentarily struck Cas that he basically came out to Dean the other day. He thought he'd been out to Dean since high school, but apparently he hadn't. And considering that, it went pretty well. The entire conversation, which lasted a whopping five minutes, was pretty low-kew. After Dean's momentary shock, everything went back to normal. Cas couldn't have asked for a better best friend.

    "Good morning, Dean."

    "G'mornin', Cas."

    Cas rounded the couch to see Dean sprawled on his belly, perched on his elbows reading a book.

    "Would you mind making room for me?" Cas motioned to the sofa, where Dean was occupying an unnecessary amount of space.

    Dean grunted, which, in Dean speech, meant "find your own Goddamn place to sit". Cas rolled his eyes but conceded. He dropped into the leather armchair facing the window, careful to not spill his drink.

    "What are you reading?" He blew the steaming cup of coffee before taking a sip. Dean held up the cover of the book so Cas could read the title. Cas scoffed, " _Slaughterhouse Five_ ; I should've known."   
Throughout their college years, Dean fell in love with Kurt Vonnegut's writing. Castiel much preferred poetry and scientific journals, but each to their own.

    "It's good, " Dean muttered.

    "I can tell, " Cas said with a barely contained smile on his lips.

  
~•~◇~•~

  
"I'll be at the Roadhouse with Sammy—call if you need anything!" Dean said over his shoulder as he tied on his shoes.

    Cas was setting blankets on the sofa while Charlie was finding snacks in the kitchen since they decided to catch up on '  
Game of Thrones while Dean was meeting with Sam.

    "Goodbye Dean. Tell Sam I say hello." Cas looked up from where he was pulling a Wii controller out from in between the couch cushions.

    Charlie paused her search for chocolate to yell, "Same for me, Dean Bean! Tell Jo I'll miss the eye candy though! Have fun!"

    "Bye guys." With one last check to see that he had his keys and phone, Dean locked the door behind him and headed to the Roadhouse.

  
~•~◇~•~

  
The Roadhouse was a bar owned by Ellen, a family friend and practically Dean's aunt. Even as kid, Dean was a regular. John would bring Dean 'round to hang out with Ellen's daughter, Jo. Before the Novaks moved in next door to the Winchesters, Dean practically lived off of peanuts from the bar.

    Nowadays, the Roadhouse the place where Dean would hangout with his friends after work.

    Or the place where his brother would plan to meet up for undisclosed reasons.

  
~•~◇~•~   


 "Dean!"

    The man in question spun to see who called his name. Sure enough, his baby brother Sammy was sitting in a booth waving.

    Dean rolled his eyes at the moose's enthusiasm and slid into the bench seat across from him. Sam was nursing a glass of water and a basket of greasy sweet potato fries. A beer lay in wait for Dean. He swiped it and took a sip before diving straight into a game of 20 Questions.

    “Dude, as much as I love seeing ya, what the fuck was up with the ominous text you sent me?"

    Sam let out a long suffering sigh. "I have something to tell you."

    Dean raised an expectant eyebrow. When Sam still didn't say anything he continued, "What? Did Jess finally knock you up?"

    "Dean." And there was that trademark bitch face yet again.

    "Come on, I don't have much to go by."

    Sam dragged a hand through his hair. And then took a gulp of water. Then took a bigger gulp. It seemed he was trying to make like Jesus and turn that water into wine. The liquid courage seemed to work because he spoke a minute later. "I'm proposing to Jess."

    "Man, that's awesome! 'Bout damn time if ya ask me... Wait, shouldn't you be telling mom and dad, or Jess' parents?"

    "Relax Dean. I already asked her father for her hand in marriage last week and I'm telling mom and dad tomorrow, at the family dinner. I wanted to tell you first though."

    Dean nodded in understanding. In the past, Sam had brought up the possibility of marrying Jess, but now it was really happening.

    "So, when 're you popping the question? Please don't do it during sex. Nobody wants to be that guy."

    "God no, Dean! I was planning on proposing this upcoming Tuesday. She gets home early from the hospital and I was hoping to surprise her with a bath and a massage."

    "What did I just say about proposing during sex?"

    "You know, Dean, some things can be romantic without being sexual, " Sam said with a pointed look.

    Dean shrugged and brought the beer to his lips.

    "So, when are you going to propose to Cas?"

    Dean choked mid sip. "W—what?!"

    Sam's answering smirk was downright evil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot is moving! Things really get going in the next chapter so look toward to that! Also don't you just love Sam being a little shit?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some shit happens. Not everything is rainbows and unicorns my friends :(

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will probably be the last update for a bit because I have an essay to finish. Once summer break starts (June 2nd) I will be able to write more often.
> 
> ALSO: tags were updated! There is a minor character death in this chapter. It's 10x less graphic than spn canon but be warned. I don't want to trigger anyone.

Castiel and Charlie lied lethargically with bloated stomachs and empty Chinese takeout littering the coffee table. Game of Thrones had long since been watched and the pair moved onto Mario Kart, which Charlie cruelly decimated the brunet at. Cas had pushed her off the sofa in retaliation of her big win, where she now lied clutching his bumblebee pillow pet.

"I came out to Dean yesterday."

Charlie perked up a bit at the new topic, rolling onto her belly, head in hands and elbows digging into the well loved bee. She gave Cas an inquisitive glance. "How'd it go?"

"Good. I think he was more shocked that he hadn't known I was gay than the fact I am gay. So, yes, as far as coming outs go, I'd say it was successful."

"I still can't believe he didn't know. You guys have lived together for like, a decade—and before that you were neighbors."

Cas gave her a noncommittal shrug, "It's not like I advertise it. I don't really date and, unlike Dean, I don't openly talk about my sexual conquests."

There was pause where Charlie seemed to be mulling over her thoughts. "...You think he'll finally realize you're hopelessly in love with him?" She wondered with a wistful sigh.

Cas scoffed indignantly. "I certainly hope not. He hasn't noticed yet and I'd like to keep it that way. There's little to no chance that he could possibly reciprocate my feelings and I am not willing to lose my best friend for something as fickle as a romantic relationship. Besides, I am perfectly content with our relationship as it is."

Charlie gave him a look that could only be described as a mixture of pity and disbelief. "If you say so."

Castiel thought that would be the end of the conversation, but since this was Charlie, he was mistaken.

"Well, if you ever need help getting out of the dreaded friend zone, I'm only one urgent text message away."

"I appreciate the sentiment, but the odds of that occurring are next to none." Cas let out a resigned sigh.

  
~•~◇~•~

  
It was a little past ten pm when Dean finally made it back to the apartment. Humphrey, Charlie's beloved yellow bug, was nowhere to be seen in the visitors parking spaces so he assumed she left.

Dean unlocked the front door and toed off his shoes.

"Cas?"

He could hear someone shuffling around in another room.

"In here!"

Dean rounded the corner into the living room, where he saw Castiel sweeping up popcorn. He tossed his keys in the general direction of the coffee table, which earned him a glare from Cas, and flopped onto the couch. "How'd movie night go?"

"It went well, aside from the fact Charlie beat me at Mario Kart four times in a row. No one should be that good Wario's Gold Mine."

Dean snorted. "If I'd known you guys were gonna play, I would've warned ya. Girl's got some serious skills."

Cas swept his collection of popcorn into a dustpan and retreated from the room. He came back a moment later empty handed and sat down beside Dean.

"How was your meeting with Sam?"

A wide smile spread across Dean's face as he recalled the events from earlier. "Sammy’s finally gonna propose to Jess."

Castiel's responding smile was blindingly beautiful, eyes twinkling like stars. It was rare that he smiled like that, but it never failed to make Dean's heart flutter like a Goddamn school girl—fuck. Nope.

"I have no doubt Jessica will say yes. They are irrevocably enamored with one another. Sam couldn't have chosen a better partner."

The pair held eye contact longer than was probably comfortable. Dean cleared his throat and averted his gaze. "Yeah man, I'm happy for them."

Cas gave Dean one last smile and rose from the sofa. "I'm going to turn in for the night. Goodnight Dean."

"Night Cas."

  
~•~◇~•~

  
Castiel awoke on Wednesday morning with an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something just felt wrong. At first he assumed that Jess turned down Sam's marriage proposal. That was quickly debunked when a picture of an ecstatic Jess with a substantial rock on her finger was sent to the group chat.

He wrote it off as winter blues.

It wasn't until the end of the day when it became apparent that it was not the case.

The opening guitar riff to  _ ‘Sweet Child O' Mine’ _ rang loudly through the produce section of the grocery store. Castiel cringed and pulled out his phone.

He didn't recognize the number flashing on the screen, but the area code was local. It couldn't hurt to answer it, he reasoned. "Hello?"

"Is this...Cas _ teel _ Novak?"

He didn't even try to conceal an eye roll; the woman on the other end of the call couldn't see him.

"Yes, this is Cas _ tiel _ . May I ask who is calling?" He inspected an avocado for a second before concluding it was too green.

"This is Lisa Braeden of Smith County Memorial Hospital. This afternoon your brother Jimmy Novak and his wife Amelia were admitted in critical condition."

Castiel's world flipped upside down. His heart lurched into his throat and icy chills ran down his spine. The avocado slipped from his clammy palms.  "W—what happened?"

"I don't know the specifics, but the paramedics said your family was in a car accident. Since you are Jimmy's emergency contact, the doctors would like to speak with you to discern the best course of action."

"Yes, yes of course. I'll be there right away." The call ended and, before he knew it, Cas was behind the driver's seat of the impala driving down the freeway.

  
~•~◇~•~

  
Dean was getting a little worried. Grocery shopping should not take three hours.    
  
**Dean [7:16 PM] dude its been hours where tf are you**

**Dean [7:18 PM] Cas, I'm getting worried. Call me.**

**Dean [7:19 PM] Cas.**

  
**Cas [7:22 PM] I apologize Dean. Jimmy and Amelia were in an accident. I'm at the hospital at the moment. I don't know if they are going to make it.**

  
Dean let out a shaky breath and swiped a hand over his face. He had no idea how Cas was holding up; it was his twin brother for fucks sake!

**Dean [7:23 PM] shit**

**Dean [7:23 PM] fuck**

**Dean [7:24 PM] are you okay Cas?**

**Dean [7:25 PM] that's a stupid question. where r u?**

  
**Cas [7:26 PM] Smith County Memorial Hospital.**

**  
** **Dean [7:27 PM] k**

**Dean [7:30 PM] gabe and I'll be there soon. hang in there buddy.**

  
He hadn't even called Gabe yet, but it was a no brainer that Cas' older brother would drop everything to help his family.

Dean scrolled through his phone until he found Gabriel's contact.

_ "What's up Dean—o? Finally got the nerve to ask Cassie out?" _

"Not in the mood Gabe." Dean took a steadying breath before continuing, "Jimmy was in a car accident. Cas is at the hospital, but it doesn't look good. I'm gonna need you to pick me up."

_ "Fuck," _ There was some rustling and crackling on the other end,  _ "On my way." _

The call dropped off and Dean took the time to slip on his jacket and grab Cas' favorite blanket, patterned with honeycombs and a few bees. He tucked the blanket under his arm and locked the door behind him.

  
~•~◇~•~

  
Dean was momentarily overwhelmed by the bright, white led lights flooding the bland reception area and the stench of disinfectants. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust. Gabriel wasted no time strutting up to the reception desk where a brunette woman in blue scrubs was typing on a computer.

He cleared his throat, "We're here to see Jimmy Novak."

"And you are...?" The nurse looked up from whatever the hell she was doing.

"Gabriel Novak, his brother. This is Dean, a family friend." Gabe angled his thumb at Dean, who gave her a sad imitation of his usual panty-dropping smile.

"Hold on a second, let me look through our records..." The nurse's nails clacked heavily on the keyboard before she regarded them again. "It seems your brother is in surgery at the moment. I can have someone take you up to the waiting room if you'd like."

"That'd be great. Thanks."

"Someone will be with you right away."

The nurse stayed true to her word; a few minutes later a nurse—a man named Eric according to the name tag—showed them through the hospital. The man led them down the ugly beige halls and into an elevator where he pressed the button to the fourth floor. In the lift, the employee idly chatted with the tense pair.

"If you two are staying here for awhile, the cafeteria is on the first floor. There are signs when you get off the elevator."

"Thanks, " Dean said curtly. The elevator dinged one last time as the doors opened to the fourth floor. The nurse exited first and the Winchester and Novak followed along like newborn ducklings.

Gabriel considered what the man said before asking, "You have candy down there?"

Eric seemed to find that humorous because he chuckled. "You'd think a hospital wouldn't, but actually yes, we do." 

The conversation stalled when they arrived at the waiting room.

"Not that I didn't enjoy your company, but for your sakes, I hope I don't see y'all again." With that, Eric walked away, leaving the two men numbly entering the room.

The lights were dimmer than in the hall—a change Dean gladly welcomed. Rows of blue and black chairs lined the room. Cas was sitting in a cushioned chair, leaning forward with his elbows digging into his knees. Anna sat in the next seat over in her green scrubs, clasping one of Jody's hands tightly. It was a somber sight. Anna looked up at the sound of the door clicking open. She gave the oncomers a rueful smile.

Gabriel lowered himself into the chair opposite his sister, Anna. "Any word?"

She gave him a despondent shake of her head. "I was paged when they were brought in, but I've been kept in the dark since then. As far as I know, they're still in surgery."

"Well shit..."

"Not much I can do, really. Hospital policy."

"Doesn't mean it sucks any less," Dean said as he made himself comfortable in the chair next to his best friend. He wordlessly wrapped the bee blanket around Cas, carding his fingers through the mop of brown hair that was somehow even messier than usual. Cas looked at Dean through lashes heavy with tears, an appreciative smile on his lips. With tear tracks and bloodshot eyes, the smile paled in comparison to his normally blinding beams of sunshine.

Dean leaned forward and asked in a hushed tone, "How're you holding up, buddy?"

Castiel shrugged and—fuck— he was on the verge of bursting into tears. Cas' lips were pressed into a thin line and his eyes were undeniably glossy. Dean let out a shaky breath and wrapped an arm around Cas, who instantly leaned into the one-armed embrace. Cas pressed his face into the column of Dean's neck. It wasn't long until Dean felt wet tears staining his collar, accompanied by uneven puffs of air. He ran a soothing hand up and down his friend's blanket covered arm, muttering the occasional endearment into his hair. Even after the waterworks subsided, Cas stayed tucked into Dean's side. Dean looked up after a bit, finding the silence unsettling. Usually Gabriel would have made some sort of degrading comment by now. To his surprise, Gabe was anxiously tapping the arm of his chair, looking over at Dean and Cas every so often with a somber—almost longing—look in his eyes.

Dean wrote it off as Gabe being depressed in his own fucking weird way.

  
~•~◇~•~

  
It was ten pm by the time a doctor finally decided to make an entrance.

Dean had half the mind to yell,  _ "Freakin’ finally," _ when the blonde woman in scrubs walked in.

"Are you the family of Amelia Novak?"   
Jody instantly perked up. "Yes, I'm her sister."

"I'm Eleanor Visyak, the neurosurgeon on Amelia's case." Everyone turned their attention to the doctor. "Amelia is out of surgery, but there were some complications. Your sister had a brain bleed. We managed to stop the bleeding, but in order to reduce swelling, it was in her best interests to put her in a medically induced coma."

_ "Fuck," _ Dean thought to himself,  _ "That's some tough shit." _

With a sharp intake of breath, Jody asked, "W—when will she wake up?"

"At the moment that is undetermined. It could be anywhere from a day to a week. It really depends on how fast the swelling goes down."

"Can we see her?"

"Since you are her emergency contact, you are permitted to see her right away. Unfortunately, the rest of you will have to wait until visiting hours to get a pass."

"Thank you Dr. Visyak. Is there any news on Jimmy Novak, her husband?" Anna queried, still clutching Jody's hand.

"I'm not his doctor, but I'll see if I can find someone on his case to brief you." Eleanor gave them a polite smile before heading down the hall.

Gabriel sank down into his seat and buried his face in his hands. Anna rubbed Jody's shoulder. Cas picked at a thread on Dean's jacket.

Anna was the first to break the deafening silence. "We should call Claire."

"She's staying with my parents, so you're probably be better off calling them first. Might need a buffer," Dean said, sounding a lot more clear-headed than he felt.

"Right.."

"Do you want me to...?" He trailed off, not sure if she wanted the help. Anna was a stubborn son (daughter?) of a bitch who sure as Hell didn't go looking for anyone's sympathy.

"No, I got it. Thanks though." Well, it was worth the shot.

"Yeah, no problem."

  
~•~◇~•~

  
"What the fuck is taking so Goddamn long?!"

Dean looked up from his phone, where he had been showing Cas pictures of guinea pigs, startled by Gabriel's sudden outburst. For the most part, Gabe had been uncharacteristically quiet. It was kinda disconcerting actually.

"We've been fucking waiting here for four hours! What the Hell are those motherfucking doctors doing that takes four fucking hours?!?"

"Okay, okay Gabriel. First off, those 'motherfucking' doctors are fighting to save our brother. Medicine isn't magic, Gabe. It takes hard work and time. Lots and lots of time. So tone down on the profanity directed at the people responsible for Jimmy's life."

"It's just we've been here for hours… and the only time anyone came in here to update us was when they told us they put Amelia in fan—fucking—tastic coma. That neuro—whatever lady said she'd get someone to tell us what the fuck is going on with Jimmy. Well guess what? That hasn't fucking happened yet!"

"Having a temper isn't helping anything, Gabriel." Gabe was skating on a thin thin line with her. Anyone knew that you didn't demean medical professionals around her without getting ripped into. Although she worked in the psych ward, the girl was fiercely protective of her peers.

"And what exactly would help, Anna? Have any brilliant ideas you'd like to share with the class?"

_ “Damn. He's getting his ass handed to him,” _ Dean thought... and kinda wished he had some popcorn to enjoy it properly.

"Perhaps you should get up, take a walk, maybe get some candy. Staying in this room certainly doesn't seem to be helping."

Oh. Okay. She was being tame today. Lame.

Gabriel huffed and conceded, not without slamming the door though. Anna rolled her eyes and continued flipping through something a co-worker asked her to consult on. Dean shrugged and went back to looking at guinea pigs with Cas.

  
~•~◇~•~

  
It was now eleven pm. Dean was not gonna lie, he was getting kinda antsy. It didn't help that Cas was practically jumping out of his skin; twisting the blanket between his fingers and tapping his feet on the scuffed linoleum. And friggin’ Gabriel—loudly pouring a box of Nerds down his throat. Who does that? Oh, and then he peeled open a Hershey's bar. Would he just quit it with the crinkling?! Now there's a fucking wrapper on the floor. Great.

Dean sucked in a long suffering breath and turned on his phone.

**[1] unread message: Mom**

**  
** **Mom [10:37 PM] Hi sweetie. Any news? How is Castiel doing? Give him a hug for me, the poor dear needs one.**

**Mom [10:38 PM] Oh! And tell him I love him!**

  
Dean smiled at Mary's text. She always treated Cas like her own son.

  
**Dean [11:05 PM] nothing new** **  
** **Cas is just about as good as you would expect ...by that I mean fucking terrible**

  
"Hey Cas." Dean nudged him. "Mom says she loves you."

He stopped fidgeting for the moment and gave Dean a close mouthed smile. "Tell her I love her as well."

  
**Dean [11:07 PM] Cas says he loves you too**

**Dean [11:07 PM] by that I mean he said "tell her I love her as well"**

**Dean [11:08 PM] what a dork**

  
Dean chuckled when she sent him five heart-eyed emojis and three various colored hearts. He shut off his phone and pocketed it.

The door creaked open to reveal a man decked out in surgery attire, the scrubs, mask, and hair net. "Is this the family of Jimmy Novak?"

Gabriel jolted from his seat, candy long forgotten as he anxiously awaited what the surgeon had to say. "Yep, that's us."

There was a long pause, where the hopeful glimmer Dean felt when the man walked in flickered out of existence.

The surgeon swallowed thickly before addressing the group. "There were complications in the surgery and… I'm very sorry to inform you that Jimmy didn't make it."

Their reactions were delayed.

Gabriel staggered backwards as if he'd been dealt a physical blow. It might as well have. His open expression changed to stony and unreadable.

Anna choked back a sob and immediately started demanding answers, to which Dean completely ignored.

Cas crumpled in on himself, taking Dean's arm hostage in a vice—like grip. Dean didn't mind. He felt kinda numb and the pain was grounding.

The following events were a blur. Dean barely remembered gathering Castiel in his arms as sobs wracked the man. He barely remembered shedding his own tears and holding onto Castiel just as tight. He barely remembered Gabriel holding Anna back from throttling the surgeon. He barely remembered the doctor leaving, passing his condolences and saying that a social worker would drop by soon. It all felt so surreal. Like if he were to blink, it would all reverse. He tried. It didn't work.

He remembered sitting there, the four of them, in collective emptiness. He remembered the drive back home, devoid of music. He remembered pulling out vodka and pouring himself and Castiel overzealous helpfuls. Everything after that was a blur too.

  
~•~◇~•~

  
The first thing Castiel noticed when he woke was the insistent pounding in his head. He screwed his eyes shut and rubbed his temples, swallowing since his mouth was inexplicably dry. Cas hadn't felt this hungover since—wait—hungover? He lazily tried to recall why he would have a reason to drink... and yesterday's events all came rushing back to him. His heart ached and an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. He felt like he was going to hurl. Cas wasted no time stumbling to the bathroom, ignoring how his head throbbed worse once he was vertical. After emptying the contents of his stomach, Cas took in his appearance in the mirror above his sink.

He looked absolutely wrecked, eyes sunken and bloodshot; hair standing on end; an unnatural grey tint to his skin. He wiped away fresh tears that fell without permission.

A swish of mouthwash later, Cas was pulling on his robe and trekking into the hall, eager for a distraction.

The aroma of a fresh pot of coffee wafted through the apartment, adding some sense of normalcy to Cas' life.

Dean was leaning against the counter, looking just as haggard as Cas, a steaming blue mug in his hands.

"Mornin'."

"Morning Dean." He refrained from saying 'good'. Nothing seemed good about this morning. Cas walked to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup.

"I got Garth to give us some paid leave."

"Wha—Dean, why?"

"Why? Because neither us are ready to jump back in the saddle. Cas, your brother d—died yesterday." Cas winced. "If I'm not friggin’ ready to go in to work, neither are you." Dean cleared his throat and shifted his weight onto his other foot. "Besides, someone needs to take care of your hungover ass."

They exchanged wry smiles and Cas mentally thanked Dean for lightening mood. 

  
~•~◇~•~

  
The day passed in a swarm of activity, family and friends dropping by to offer their condolences and support.

Mary was the first, showering them with motherly love and enough pb&j's to feed an army.

Charlie was second, arriving only thirty minutes after Mary left. She brought her cat Crookshanks. Pets weren't permitted in their apartment building but she didn't give a shit; Cas was sad and he loved that fluff ball. Of course this meant that Dean suffered through congested sinuses and itchy eyes while the damn cat was visiting, but it was worth seeing Cas' content smile when Crookshanks curled up in his lap. Charlie knew very well what it was like to lose a family member, so she offered her silent support. There was no pity in her eyes, only understanding and pain. She regaled them with tales of idiotic things her students did of late, which had the trio bursting into laughter.

Sam and Jess showed up next. The moose immediately engulfed Dean and Cas in his arms, giving them his infamous bear hug. Jess followed behind, balancing three pies, offering the explanation that Gabriel stress bakes. Dean was not complaining.

Bobby, Ellen, and Jo stopped by soon after and hugs were exchanged. The phrase, "We're here if you need anything," was uttered more than once.

At the end of the day, Castiel felt less alone than he had before. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something— _ someone _ —was missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um my version of angst is just killing characters so myuhahahaha ! ! !  
> Like I literally cannot write any other kind of angst. So ya get hurt/comfort because I'm sOfT 
> 
> Also, don't be surprised if I go back and change this fic to present tense. I've been having a difficult time writing the story in past tense.
> 
> Sorry if the hospital part wasn't very accurate. I'm just going by the times I've been admitted and what I've seen on tv. Granted my own experience was urgent but not emergency. I wasn't rushed into surgery like Jimmy or Amelia; I've just been booked into a room for a week on multiple occasions. Grey's Anatomy was pretty helpful for this lol.
> 
> And no, I don't ship Jody and Anna. They are sister in laws, therefore very close. Personally, I am very close with my brother's wife, so I thought their relationship was relatively realistic.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cuddles and a wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for taking so long to write this chapter. It's taken me weeks to finish it. I just had the general idea of what I wanted to include but I had a hard time actually making it happen. 
> 
> So please enjoy because I put a lot of effort into this!

Castiel Novak did not have a small family. His father, Chuck Shurley—an author of young adult novels, was widowed and left with seven young children. Growing up, sibling rivalry was a constant struggle. Michael and Luc, being the oldest and close in age, usually stuck to tormenting one another. Gabriel was a notorious prankster, thus making everyone's life a living Hell on a daily basis. Anna was the only girl and felt outnumbered and misunderstood at times, resulting in her lashing out. Balthazar was more laid back, but occasionally he would help Gabriel with a prank. Castiel and Jimmy, the twins, were the youngest and tended to abide by the rules of the household.

Castiel would like to say that his relationship with his family was close and stable, but he would be lying. Chuck was often traveling the world searching for inspiration for his newest novel. Those trips were kept to a minimum when Castiel was growing up, but nowadays contact with him was next to none. Luc still had major personality issues and would rather socialize with influential people than his own family. Castiel would probably be closer to Michael if the older brother didn't live in New York. Castiel used to be very close with Balthazar in childhood, but Balth was more into the party scene now. When Balth's grades started degrading due to his questionable lifestyle choices, their aunt Amara sent him to a boarding school somewhere in Europe to correct his behaviour. It didn't work. The most he got out of the experience were some interesting friends and an odd accent. God knows how he afforded the lifestyle (there were all sorts of rumors) but he could usually be found in Vegas wasting away his liver. Castiel would say that he was closest to Gabriel, Anna, and Jimmy; both physically and emotionally. Gabe owned the local bakery, Pie in the Sky, which Cas frequented weekly because Dean could not live without pie. Anna worked as a psychologist at Smith County Memorial Hospital. Her long shifts often left Cas in charge of tending to her house plants. Jimmy and his family lived in the old Novak family home, right next door to the Winchesters' house. On days when Amelia and Jimmy were too busy, Cas would pick up their teenage daughter Claire from school. Castiel felt blessed at times to have such a close relationship with those three siblings. Other times he felt cursed that half of his family ignored him.

So, his family wasn't perfect, but they were his and he loved them unconditionally.

It was hard at times to remember that the reverse was true as well. This was one of those times.

  
~•~◇~•~

  
Castiel would rather be doing  _ anything _ than this. Even listening to Charlie's incessant and outlandish schemes to get him with Dean would be more welcomed. Unfortunately there was no bailing on this. He was forced to finish the task.

You see, since Amelia was still comatose, the responsibility of informing family of Jimmy's passing fell upon Castiel. He would never burden young Claire with that task.

So here he was, sitting in Sam's office while the giant-sized man helped him track down contact information. The phone numbers and emails Castiel had for his family members were all outdated or unreliable. Sam, as Jimmy's lawyer, was in possession of the will, so he eagerly enlisted his help. Charlie would have employed her computer skills if school wasn't in session. Gabriel and Anna had yet to contact Cas since the hospital, which Castiel tried not to feel too dismayed about. He understood that everyone grieved in their own way, but having the support of his family would have been nice.

He resolved that Sam was family enough and his help was much appreciated.

  
~•~◇~•~

  
It was just short of a miracle that Sam managed to find the hotel Chuck was staying at and get a direct line to his room.

"Cas, I got your dad's number on the line."

"Thank you, Sam." Cas took the phone with trembling hands.

_ "Hello?" _ A familiar voice crackled over the phone.

"Hello father. Uh, it's Castiel."

_ "...Oh... Hey son! What's the matter?" _

"There was a..um..car accident...and," Cas exhaled shakily and the phone almost slipped from his perspiring palms. "Father, Jimmy didn't make it." Sam placed a hand on Cas' shoulder and squeezed.

Castiel heard a sharp intake of breath over the line.

_ "...Oh my God." _ The voice wavered and Cas heard a wet sounding choke.

"Amelia is comatose, so we are waiting until she awakes to have a funeral. We are having a wake at the old house in a few days though. I just thought you should know. It would be nice if you were there."

_ "No...yeah. Of course," _ a sniffle. _ "I'll catch the next flight back." _

There was an awkward silence filled with shuffling and crackling on Chuck's end.    
_ "So, I guess I'll be seeing ya soon then, son." _

"I guess so." Cas didn't really know what else to say, so he decided to end the call. "Goodbye father, I still have to notify the rest of the family."

_ "Oh. Um, bye Castiel." _

The call was disconnected with a click. Castiel set the phone down and rubbed his misty eyes.

"You okay, Cas? I can handle the rest of the calls if you need a break.."

"Thank you, Sam, but no. This is something I need to do."

  
~•~◇~•~

  
Contacting his siblings was an odd task. The conversation with Luc lasted approximately three and a half minutes, in which the older sibling seemed detached and cold. Luc said he would make it to the wake, but it sounded like he would rather do  _ anything else _ .  Michael wasn't much better, spending even less time on the line before handing the phone to his secretary to schedule a day off. Balthazar was the most down to earth and  _ human _ of the estranged siblings. He genuinely sounded like he gave a fuck: "Jesus Chri—Cassie, are you alright? Nevermind, shit question. I'll be down there ASAP. God. Fucking Hell." 

It was nice to get in contact with his family, but also very draining and demanding to his emotional state.

As it was, he was already hanging on by a thread—the unwavering support of Dean and his family the only thing keeping him sane — and the added stress of the Novaks was certainly not helping. By the end of the calls, he was withering, like a wilted plant.

Sam looked up at Cas from a lawyer-y file. "Hey, uh, you want to get some pizza? My treat."

"Raincheck? I feel as if I could fall asleep any moment now...and I'd rather be in the comfort of my bed when that happens."

Sam chuckled and closed the document he had been flipping through. "I can see that, man. You should probably get home before you fall asleep on your feet."

Cas rose from his seat with a  _ creaaak _ and folded his discarded trench coat over his arm. Before opening the door, he turned to Sam. "Thank you for all your help today, Sam. I don't know how I could possibly repay you."

"Don't worry about it, this is just helping me fill my pro-bono quota. Besides, you're family, Cas." Sam stood from his office chair, full moose-height a little intimidating, and engulfed Cas in a hug. It lasted for a few seconds before Sam pulled away with a firm pat. "See you soon?"

Novak gave him an affirmative nod and opened the door with a  _ click _ .

  
~•~◇~•~

  
When Cas opened the door to his shared apartment, he was bombarded by the  _ pip-pop _ and low  _ wrrrrr _ of microwavable popcorn popping and the overlying aroma of decadent chocolate, like a chocolate delicacy had been freshly baked.

"Dean?" Cas questioned as he entered the living room, keys jingling in his coat pocket. The room was dark, lit only by Netflix's opening screen and street lights sneaking in through the blinds. Castiel's beloved bee blanket and pillow pet were situated on the sofa, alongside Dean's plaid throw blanket that had been a gag gift from Gabriel and Jimmy.

_ Jimmy… _

Cas abandoned the the solemn thought with the shake of his head and set his keys on the coffee table. He wandered into the hallway, which was flooded by warm kitchen lights. 

"Dean?" This time his inquiry was rewarded with a response. A clatter of metal-against-metal sounded before a figure dashed into the hallway. There stood Dean, hair mussed artfully; cheeks flushed with a slight pink; lips curved into a smirk; hands obscured by mismatched oven mitts. A now grey—previously white—oven mitt splattered with rainbow polka-dots raised to swipe an unruly hair back into place before waving at Castiel.

"Heya Cas!"

"Hello Dean." Cas took in his best friend's appearance once more before saying,"What's going on?"

Dean's smile grew even more radiant at the question. "It's movie night, Cas."

Castiel failed to see how the two subjects correlated. "I'm still at a loss."

"Well, I figured it's been awhile since we had anything besides junk food on movie night, so I baked some brownies."

"If they are anything like the brownies you usually make, they may be more suitably labeled junk food than most junk foods."

"Oh shush—you love my brownies." Dean waved a dismissive, gloved hand, a playful glint in his eyes.

"I never denied such a statement." The pair exchanged impish grins for a drawn out minute. Dean tucked his chin to his chest, trying to hide as his mouth quirked in vain attempt to wipe away the smile. 

Biting his lip, Dean swept an arm towards the kitchen doorway. "Mind helpin' me scrape those brownies out of the pan?"

"Not at all."

  
~•~◇~•~

  
Brownies stacked on a glass platter and cut into shapes that relatively resembled squares, the boys settled into their respective spots on the sofa; Dean on the right and Cas on the left. Burrowing into his fuzzy blanket, Castiel handed his friend the remote. For the entirety of their friendship, Dean refused to watch television unless he was the person wielding the remote. At this point, Cas knew to hand Dean the remote if he was hoping to watch anything.

"What did you want to watch?" Cas asked, stroking the stuffed bee in his lap. Instead of answering, Dean wordlessly scrolled through their Netflix queue until he came across The Twilight Zone. He turned to Cas with an expectantly raised brow. Cas very nearly rolled his eyes. As if he would reject the offer of watching that show. When they were growing up, Dean and Cas would build a fort on weekends and watch it together. Many a night had been ruined by Sam, Jimmy, and Gabriel collaborating to destroy their fort. Although they didn't have any meddling siblings to deal with now, their schedules were usually so packed that these nights were rare. Nowadays, it was mostly used as a comfort device after a shitty day. Dean's effort to cheer Cas up did not go unnoticed.

Cas gave Dean what he hoped was an appreciative smile. Dean shot back his own smile before clicking on  _ 'Play Season 1: Episode 31'. _

_ "There is a fifth dimension..." _ Neither of them could help but recite the intro with Rod Serling. 

  
~•~◇~•~

  
Soft snores filled the otherwise silent room. Dean blinked his eyes open to see the Netflix menu reading,  _ 'Are you still watching The Twilight Zone (Original Series)?' _ He patted the sofa in search of the remote, only to have his hand brush something hard and hear the object clatter to the floor. The television screen was dotted with black and white snow.

"Fuck," Dean cursed under his breath. He went to roll off the couch, only to find the left half of body weighted down. Brows furrowed in question, he looked down to see Cas snoring on his shoulder; the arm clutching the bee flung around Dean's mid section. Dean's features smoothed over as he peered down at his friend. It was the most tranquil he'd seen Cas in nearly a week. It was unfair that the only respite Cas had from the shit-show that was life, was sleep. Dean had been trying his best to instill some much needed normalcy—hence The Twilight Zone—but there was only so much he could do. He just hoped his efforts helped.

Deciding it would be unwise to disturb Cas' much needed sleep, Dean kicked his feet onto the couch and scooted to lie down lengthwise. Cas only shuffled closer, nuzzling the crook of Dean's neck. Dean struggled to tamp down the overwhelming and decidedly not-so platonic burst of affection for his best friend. When his traitorous heart only fluttered more the longer the lied there, he thought, "Fuck it," and let himself enjoy the moment. He wrapped his arms around Cas: one hand carded through Cas’ sex-hair while the other smoothed circles up and down his back.

He could let himself have this moment…

 

~•~◇~•~

 

Cas awoke sometime in the night feeling content and warm and cosy and— _was that a snore?_ Cas forced his eyes open to reveal...darkness. Warm darkness. That moved. And snored. He lifted his head and was met with scratchy stubble. Castiel very nearly jumped out of his skin. _Dean_. He was fucking sleeping _on Dean._ His best-macho-buddy-pal-no-homo-friend Dean… that he happened to be in love with. This was not good...not good _at_ _all_. Rapidly beating heart attempting to leap out of his ribcage, Cas very carefully extricated himself from Dean’s oh-so welcoming embrace. He set his own possessions on the coffee table and leaned over and tucked his roommate in. Cas turned off the tv and picked up his blanket and plush bee. With one last longing look at his best friend, Castiel went to bed.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

Dean couldn't help but feel disappointed when he woke up. It's not like he expected Cas to be there in the morning, in fact it was probably better this way, but he just felt a little despondent about if. If he was being honest with himself, deep down he was hoping Cas would still be there when he woke up so maybe,  _ just maybe, _ he'd be forced to face those feelings he'd been ignoring for so long. But no; he woke up alone...thoughtfully tucked in...but alone. Cas had long since retired to his own bed and was probably dreaming of Chris Hemsworth or some other adonis that Dean could in no way, shape, or form match up to. 

If he was lucky, Cas wouldn't make it awkward and bring the cuddling up. Dean really didn't want to hear confirmation that his best friend was not into him.

With a crestfallen sigh, Dean got up to make the day's first batch of coffee.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

Cas thought he did a decent job of acting like nothing happened. It was difficult pretending he hadn't cuddled his very straight best friend in his sleep (and enjoyed it), but he managed. For a solid thirty minutes that morning, Cas hid from Dean in his room, terrified the English teacher would know Cas cuddled him in his sleep. Somehow the Gods were working in Cas’ favor, because Dean didn't act like anything was amiss. Either Dean was clueless as to what took place that night, or his fragile masculinity was somehow still in place after being cuddled by a gay man. Castiel was grateful either way.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

It was the day of the wake. 

Cas was wringing his hands raw from nerves. 

The outfit Charlie picked out for him was laid on his bed; a black trench coat Claire bought him for “variation”, a black tie, and his usual white button up shirt and black slacks. 

He stood numbly next to the clothes.

Everything was ready...but he didn't feel ready. He didn't want to say goodbye to Jimmy. He didn't want to let him go. He didn't want to go a gathering where people offered their useless condolences and  _ fucking casseroles _ and— 

“Hey Cas? What d—shit,” Castiel looked up to see Dean (looking  _ very _ handsome in a suit) approaching him with eyebrows knitted together in concern. It wasn't until Dean pulled him into an embrace that he realized he'd been crying. “Shhh. It’s gonna be okay, buddy. Promise.”

That opened the floodgates. 

Castiel sobbed into Dean’s shoulder, leaving wet patches in his only suit. He shook and wept as Dean held him and murmured soothing words, none of which Cas heard. 

Eventually the sobs dissolved into uneven breaths and he stepped away from Dean. His throat hurt and his eyes were guaranteed to be rimmed red. He sniffled and wiped at his wet eyes. “Sorry,” Cas croaked. 

“Don't apologize. ‘S what best friends are for.”

Cas frowned at Dean's shoulder and said, “I got your suit wet.” 

Dean tossed his head back and let out that glorious, full belly laugh. “That's what you're worried about?” He said in between snorts of laughter. “My suit?!” 

The corner of Cas’ mouth lifted a bit and he nodded. 

That only made Dean laugh harder. 

When the chuckles finally subsided, he wiped a few tears of joy away and said, “Man, you're somethin’ else, Cas.”

 

~•~◇~•~

 

“Jody?” Dean yelled as they entered the Novak’s house. It was your average suburban home with a white and brown color scheme and the occasional pop of color.

“Kitchen,” she yelled back. “Claire’s in her room, if you want to say hello!” 

Dean turned to Cas in silent question:  _ ‘Want to go see Claire? _ ’ Cas nodded and stepped up the stairs.

“Be back down in a sec,” Dean hollered before following his friend. 

The first door on the right, at the top of the landing, was Claire's. It was the only door painted bright blue, the rest were white. They stopped at the door and Cas knocked  _ Shave and a Haircut _ .

_ “What,” _ a teenage, and very annoyed, voice asked. Castiel and Dean shared amused looks.

__ “It’s Uncles Dean and Cas _ , _ ” Dean said.

__ There was a put off sigh and then _ , “Come in.” _

Cas turned the handle and pushed the door open. Claire’s room was...not what Dean expected. He thought her room would reflect her almost exclusively black wardrobe and  _ ‘I'm so done with the world’  _ attitude, but he couldn't have been more wrong. 

The room was flooded with natural light, sheer curtains doing nothing to keep out the sun. The walls were an off white color and trimmed with posters and fairy lights. The posters decorating the walls ranged from Beyoncé to newborn kittens. 

Her bed was pushed against the wall in the far left corner of the room; topped with a grey duvet and grey-and-white striped pillows, accented by a smaller yellow one. The mattress sat atop a turquoise metal bed frame. Instead of a bedside table, she had a bookshelf. Lining the shelf were books of mythology, zoology, and even a few books on theology and angels. Unsurprisingly, most of her collection was comprised of novels. Most of her book series were gifted via Aunt Charlie or Uncle Sam, which is why she had complete sets of  _ Harry Potter _ ,  _ The Wizard of Oz _ , and  _ The Chronicles of Narnia _ . Looking closer, a few books by Lemony Snicket, Stephen King, and J.R.R. Tolkien could be found.

    Against the opposite wall, next to the walk-in closet, was a white desk littered with art supplies.

The one thing that didn't surprise him was the disheveled state of the room. There was clothing, used tissues, and candy wrappers strewn across the floor. Dean doubted Jody bothered nagging the girl, who just lost her father, to clean her room. 

Claire was sitting at the foot of her bed clutching a well loved teddy bear, dirty hair in a messy ponytail and outfit looking like she let a blind person dress her. 

“Hey there, kiddo,” Dean greeted as he and Cas stepped further into the room. She didn't seem to acknowledge he'd spoken. 

“How are you, Claire?” Cas asked gently, obviously treading lightly after having seen the disarray of the room and Claire’s appearance.

The girl scoffed and set the bear down with a soft thud, leveling Cas with a dangerous stare. “How do you think I am?!” 

Eye contact lasted maybe ten seconds before an unreadable expression clouded her features and she looked away. 

Cas gave Dean a pleading look. Although he'd been getting better over the years, the poor guy's social skills still needed a bit of work. Dean squeezed his shoulder, in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture. 

“People are gonna start showin’ up pretty soon, and I sure as Hell don't want to be stuck with a bunch of weirdos I don't know. How ‘bout you get dressed and meet us downstairs,” Dean said and gave her one of his trademark smiles. Claire rolled her eyes but he could see a hint of a smile on her lips. She mumbled something that sounded like a disgruntled,  _ “sure”,  _ and the two men headed back downstairs. 

 

~•~◇~•~

 

The wake was… draining, to say the least. Jimmy’s house was full of friends and family—some of which Castiel barely knew but was expected to talk to, seeing as he was the organizer of the gathering and twin brother of the deceased.

Of the family that he  _ did _ know, they weren't particularly social with him. His father was practically a ghost, offering a couple mumbled words before spacing out. 

Michael offered a firm handshake and a sincere apology… and then accepted a work call. 

Luc didn't even make it, claiming his,  _ “flight was cancelled due to weather,” _ which was complete bullshit. 

Balthazar arrived drunk off his ass, quoting Shakespeare at the top of his lungs. Sam and Dean hurriedly led him to a spare bedroom and gave him some water. 

Gabriel and Anna...well… they wouldn't even so much as look at him. Claire was very much the same, only allowing him a hug before wandering off to find Jody's daughter, Alex. It was hard that his family didn’t seem to want anything to do with him, but Castiel's friends certainly helped ease his mind. 

After seeing Cas struggle with greeting  _ every single guest _ , Charlie eagerly volunteered as  _ ‘the official welcoming committee’ _ . And yes, Charlie did actually say,  _ “I volunteer as tribute to be the official welcoming committee!”  _

Mary, to Castiel’s utter relief, kept the guests entertained by telling stories of Dean, Castiel, and Jimmy’s childhood.

Dean was incredibly accommodating—letting himself be manhandled and dragged around the house by Cas. He just felt a million times better having Dean by his side, and if that meant they would practically be attached at the hip for the rest of the day, then so be it. 

As people left, Sam and Jess thanked everyone for coming. Sam, being Sam, saw this as a marketing opportunity and managed to handout all of the business cards he had on his person.

At the end of the day, Castiel felt so grateful to have such amazing friends that, when he thought about it, were practically family. 

 

~•~◇~•~

 

There were so many casseroles and other homemade “comfort foods” that Charlie made a spreadsheet that orderly,  _ and equally _ , assigned everyone dishes.

...Dean ignored the spreadsheet and took five pies.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

“Dean. You can't possibly eat  _ all of that. _ ” 

It had been two days since the wake of Jimmy Novak. Castiel was currently sitting at his kitchen island, watching in horror as his best friend attempted to stuff his face with an entire pie. 

“Wovch ne,” Dean said with his mouth full, incidentally spewing pie crust in Cas’ face. Castiel grimaced and wiped at his face. He tried very hard to keep a scowl intact as he watched Dean devour a pie with childlike glee. 

It didn't work. 

Dean looked at Cas questionably, eyebrows furrowing. When he opened his mouth to speak, Castiel took a napkin and wiped a dollop of pie filling off the man’s freckled cheek and said, “Nothing, Dean. Nothing.” 

Castiel moved out of Dean's personal space and continued to watch him with a fond smile.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you are interested in seeing a timestamp for the wake. I've been thinking of doing some timestamps for this 'verse when I'm finished with this fic but I just need a couple ideas. Since I didn't go very in depth with the wake, I thought it might be nice to make a timestamp later.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean is the most amazing _boyfriend _\- I mean, best friend.__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has the vaguest mention of pornography and sexual acts. It's really not graphic at all and I consider it well within the ranges of the Teen rating. Just wanted to warn anyone in advance.
> 
>  
> 
> OH WAIT! Everyone must listen to Ariana Grande's newest album, Sweetener. It's _sooooo _good!__

It had been two weeks since Jimmy Novak’s wake when Castiel started feeling better. There was still a dull ache in his chest when he looked in the mirror, but he could push through. 

He had begun writing his own lesson plans for the substitute instead of having Dean and Charlie do all the work. The distraction was nice and made him feel useful. Over the past couple weeks, Dean had taken to doing all the grocery shopping, bill paying, cleaning, and cooking. Overtime it made Cas feel a little useless. Sure, Dean had shouldered all the chores for Castiel's benefit, and it was nice in the beginning, but now he just needed to  _ do _ something. 

For days Cas felt like a deflated balloon being dragged by a string, every little task too draining. Now he felt like a hummingbird with clipped wings, so much energy but no way to release it. 

Cas started by making his bed and doing laundry because he couldn't cook and Dean would kill him if he tried to clean. It wasn't like Cas was bad at cleaning, it's just Dean cleaned systematically and didn't want anyone to ruin that. The elder Winchester brother would never admit it, but he was a little obsessed with keeping the apartment orderly and clean. 

After two days of making his bed and doing laundry, he decided he needed more responsibilities. Grocery shopping was a no—go. Not even God himself would be able to make Castiel go to the place where he got  _ the call _ . 

That left one option. 

Work.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

“...Cas,” Dean said, laying at his friend's feet. Cas was sitting cross-legged on the sofa with books and papers in his lap, looking very focused. The teacher grunted, seeing as he couldn't make any coherent sound with a pen in his mouth. “I'm bored,” Dean whined.

“Then text Charlie or reply to one of those porn clips Gabe sent you—don't annoy me.” The pen fell out of Cas’ pink, plump, kissa—nope.  _ Try that again, Winchester _ . The pen fell out of Cas’  _ completely average, not remotely kissable _ lips as he spoke.

“But Ca- _ aaas _ , I don't wanna talk to Charlie or Ga—wait, how do you know about the porn clips?!” Dean felt heat rise up his neck and engulf his cheeks. There was no doubt he was blushing madly.

The look Cas gave him could only be described at  _ ‘bitch, please’ _ . “Did you really think you were the only one he sent gay porn to? He's  _ Gabriel _ .”

“Yes...I mean, no...well, I don't know! He's Gabriel! Guy’s unpredictable! How am I s’posed to know who he sends freaky porn to?”

“Dean, the only people Gabe has not sent porn to are your parents—and that's only because they have flip phones and an outdated computer.” Dean flushed an even deeper red as he imagined Gabriel sending  _ porn _ to John and Mary Winchester.

    Cas licked his index finger and flipped the page. “You are not alone in receiving porn after a seemingly PG conversation. Charlie has complained to me on multiple occasions about my brother's tendency to send her lesbian porn. That wasn't what bothered her. Apparently it was  _ bad  _ lesbian porn with something called scissoring. I don't know, she is very irritated by it.” 

Cas removed his reading glasses and rubbed his eyes. “Although I am not well versed in lesbian sex, I can see where she is coming from. Gabriel occasionally sends me clips of docking—and if scissoring is  _ anything  _ like docking, I am truly sorry for her.”

“Docking…?” Dean wasn’t an expert in gay sex, but he knew the basics...and docking didn't sound like anything he knew.

“Trust me, you do not want to know.” Cas concluded, sliding his glasses on to continue working.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

With Cas ignoring him, Dean flopped face-first onto his bed and scrolled through his contact list. He was at a loss as to what to do. Talking to Cas was the most entertaining option. He could always text Charlie, but sometimes the little firecracker was too excitable for Dean to deal with. That left Sam, Jo, Gabe—and what  _ the fuck _ was  _ docking _ ?! 

There's an idea.

Dean opened chrome and switched to incognito. Nibbling on his bottom lip, he typed into the browser  _ d-o-c-k-i-n-g _ . Only slightly as to the results, Dean pressed  _ ‘search’.  _ Bracing himself, he tapped  _ ‘images’. _

He frowned at the results.

There were only pictures of computers. 

__ _ “That can't be right,”  _ Dean thought to himself. He went back to the browser and added  _ p-o-r-n _ . He tapped search and waited for it to load before pressing images. 

It was then that he understood what Cas was talking about. 

“ _ Holy _ —MOTHER FUCKING JESUS CHRIST!” Dean threw his phone across the room, where it knocked over a lamp with a loud clatter. 

_ “I warned you!”  _ Cas yelled from the living room.

“Fuck off!” Dean yelled and got an amused chuckle in response. He groaned and hid his head under his pillow. 

Wait. 

__ _ Wait.  _

Did Cas just...laugh? Holy shit, he did! Wow. Ten fucking points to Gryffindor. 

  
  


...Were ten points enough to buy brain bleach?

 

~•~◇~•~

 

_ “Dean Winchester!” _ As soon as he and Cas walked in The Roadhouse, Dean cringed at Ellen’s scolding tone. Ellen stood menacingly in front of them, hands on her hips and lips fixed into a tight line. “Three weeks you don’t call or visit—but  _ Robert _ and  _ Joanna Beth _ ,” Dean sent a silent prayer that Ellen hadn't mutilated their bodies  _ too _ badly, “get calls and texts from you daily. Now why is it that when your ass finally stops by for a visit, you can't be bothered to give me a call to let me know?”

Dean felt like a child being scolded by his mother when he looked down at his feet and said, “Sorry Ellen.”

“You'd better be sorry, boy.” And then it was as if the clouds cleared up and the sun came out because she turned to Cas with a fond expression. “How are ya, hon?”

“Better, Ellen. Thank you for asking.” Cas offered her a small smile and she gave his shoulder a squeeze. 

“Jo’s cleanin’ up the bar if you want to say hi.”

Dean grabbed Cas by the sleeve of his trench coat and dragged him to the bar.

Just as Ellen said, the petite blonde was at the bar wiping down the countertops—a grimace in place as she swept up soggy peanut shells with an equally wet rag.  

“Heya, short stacks,”

The blonde looked up from her task, expression warping to exasperation when she saw Dean. “That's Jo to you, bow legs.”

Dean scowled. “C’mere smart mouth.” 

Jo threw down the rag and came out from behind the bar. Dean pulled her small frame into a hug, ruffling her hair in the process. She socked his chest and turned to Cas. 

“Hi Cas.”

“Hello Jo,” he said with a lopsided smirk. She gave him a quick side hug and hopped to the other side of the counter. 

“What can I do for you strangers? The usual?” 

“That'd be great,” Dean said as Castiel gave a nod of assent.

“Alright, lemme put your orders in and get started on those drinks.”

The duo walked to the other side of the Roadhouse, sitting down on opposite sides of their usual booth. 

“How ‘re you doing bud?” 

“Fine, Dean.” 

“I know, I know. Just...you've been working a lot—even more than me. I mean there's nothing wrong with that, we just haven't had the time to talk lately. I'm worried, man.”

“I appreciate that, Dean, but really, I’m fine. Working and keeping busy seems to be helping.”

“Are you sure you haven't jumped back in the saddle a little too early, becau—”

“Dean,” Cas shot Dean a stern look, ”there is no doubt in my mind that I am ready to, as you put it so eloquently, _ ‘jump back in the saddle’ _ .”

Dean released a put out sigh and wiped a hand across his face, “If you say so.”

Cas leveled Dean with a glare, “I say so.”

“Alright, alright. I trust you man, I just wanted to check in. But if you feel like it's too much work, you let me know. Capiche?”

“I capiche.” The corner of his mouth lifted into a slight grin. Dean smiled at the sight. 

“Sorry to interrupt this heartwarming moment, but I've got your beers.” Dean's head snapped to where Jo was standing at the end of their table with a smug grin and their order. He rolled his eyes and ignored the warmth climbing up his neck.

“It’s no problem, Jo,” Cas said and abolished all hopes of Dean containing the blush. 

 

~•~◇~•~

 

Cas stared down at his messages to Gabriel. 

 

**Cas [7:05 AM] Hello Gabe. Would you like to meet me for coffee at our usual spot?**

 

**Cas [7:07 AM] I could drop by the bakery if you don't have time.**

 

**Cas [7:20 AM] I assume that is a no? Anna hasn't replied either. I suppose you are both busy.**

 

**Cas [5:13 AM] Sam and I were wondering if you would like to join us on our morning run.**

 

**Cas [6:45 AM] We are going to start the run. It's unfortunate that you have not arrived :(**

 

**Gabriel [7:30 AM] sorry I couldn't make it I got some custom orders that are taking longer than anticipated**

 

**Cas [7:44 AM] It’s quite alright. We just missed your company.**

 

**Cas [10:32 PM] Do you mind setting aside an apple pie for Dean tomorrow? Dean said he'd pick it up on his way home.**

 

**Gabriel [10:38 PM] no problemo baby bro**

 

**Cas [10:39 PM] Thank you, Gabe.**

 

Brows creased and lips pursed, he scrolled through Anna’s texts.

 

**Cas [7:07 AM] If you have the time, would you like to meet Gabriel and I for coffee?**

 

**Cas [4:17 PM] Hello Anna :)**

 

**Cas [4:19 PM] I recently read that playing music for plants is beneficial for growth. Apparently they respond well to all genres of music.**

 

**Cas [4:20 PM] Dean wants me to introduce your plants to Led Zeppelin.**

 

**Anna [4:25 PM] Just don't play the music too high. You know how Marv is.**

 

**Cas [4:26 PM] I will keep that mind.**

 

**Cas [7:53 PM] As much as I hate to admit it, Dean was right. Your plants seem to enjoy Led Zeppelin. Perhaps I will play Ariana Grande tomorrow just to spite him.**

 

**Cas [6:24 PM] Your plants still prefer Led Zeppelin. I will convert them into Arianators soon enough >:)**

 

Cas looked over to Dean who was sitting next to him on the sofa, face illuminated by his phone. 

“Dean, have you seen Gabriel or Anna of late?”

“Ummm...yeah. Gabe was in the shop when my pie was ready.”

“And Anna?”

“Oh, she was hanging with Jo when I dropped by Ellen’s the other day.”

“And this was recently?” Cas hedged.

Dean put down his phone and gave Castiel his full attention, “Cas, man, what’s this about?”

“I haven't seen any of my siblings since the wake. And that was  _ weeks _ ago.”

He shrugged. “Maybe you should plan to meet up.”

“I already have. Every time I try, they either leave the text on read or give me an excuse.”

“Huh. That's weird. Usually they love seeing you.” Dean's face screwed up, nose wrinkling adorably if you asked Castiel.

“My sentiments exactly.” 

Dean paused for a minute. “I know you prefer texting, but have you tried calling?”

“Yes, and it always goes straight to voicemail.” Cas let out a frustrated groan. “It really seems like they're just avoiding me.”

“C’mon man, that can't be it—they  _ love _ you.”

“I don't doubt that. It doesn't mean they can't avoid me at times… I just wish I knew what I did wrong. Maybe I could rectify the situation.”

“Cas, buddy, you did nothing wrong.  _ If _ —and this is a big if—they  _ are  _ avoiding you, it sure as Hell is not for anything  _ you  _ did.”

“How can you know?” He squinted at Dean.

“Dude, I was glued to your side for basically the entire wake. Nothing you did warranted  _ ‘steer clear of Cas’  _ behavior.”

“Then why…?”

“Don’t worry about it, I'll talk to them and get it sorted out.” Dean gave Cas a reassuring smile.

Castiel looked directly into green eyes. “Thank you Dean.”

“Eh, it's no big deal, Cas. Just called being a decent best friend.” He patted Cas on the shoulder and retreated from the room.

Cas sighed heavily and scrolled through his contacts once again. Maybe Claire would be amenable to meeting up…

 

~•~◇~•~

 

Dean tapped his hand impatiently on the obnoxiously pink table. 

Gabe's entire bakery looked like a unicorn, who was high on shrooms, upchucked on every visible surface. Every wall, floor, tile, table, and chair was a different fluorescent color. Hell, a pie surrounded by clouded and a fucking neon rainbow was painted on the ceiling. The amount of effort Gabe put into creating this monstrosity was astounding. 

Don't tell Gabe, his ego was big enough already, but the only reason Dean kept going to the bakery was that Gabe made the best fucking pie ever.

...Well that,  _ and _ Dean needed an inconspicuous location to interrogate Castiel's siblings at. 

Yesterday, after Cas had confided in him that Anna and Gabriel had been avoiding him, Dean took it upon himself to get to the bottom of it. Meaning he texted the midget and the redhead directly after he left the room and planned to meet up. 

Dean was starting to regret choosing this location for the confrontation. The fluorescent colors had him seriously considering putting on a pair of sunglasses to protect his eyes—regardless if it made him look like a douchebag. He settled for resting his head in his hands and closing his eyes.

“Dean-o-saur! Where's my favorite brother-in-law?” The latter opened his eyes to see Gabriel, dusted in flour, plopping into the seat opposite Dean.

“Dude, do you even have a brother-in-law?”

“‘Course I do, you and Cas are practically an old married couple.” Dean rolled his eyes. “So, where's the good ol’ Samoose?” 

“Sammy, Jess, and Charlie are wine tasting or some shit.”

“Nice,” Gabe pulled a chocolate bar out of his apron and took a bite of it. “Wait, aren't you the best man?” 

“Yeah, but Charlie's substituting for stuff that I don't want to do—like taste five thousand different kinds of glorified grape juice.”

Gabe snorted. “Your loss, man.”

“Eh, Sam’ll let me know when they go cake tasting,” Dean said with the dismissive wave of his hand.

“What's this I hear about cake tasting?” Anna sat in the last chair, dumping her purse on the small table top.

“Dean the green bean was just confiding in me that he's a terrible best man.”

“Fuck off, Gabriel,” the elder Winchester grumbled. 

Gabe held up his hands in mock surrender. “Whatever you say, bro. But you better be more involved when you and your baby daddy get your vows renewed. Just sayin’, Cassie will castrate you if you don't pull it together.”

Dean chose to ignore Gabriel’s comment. “Speaking of Cas, why are you two avoiding him?”

The siblings exchanged bug eyed looks before hurriedly blurting: 

“What? Me—us avoiding Cassie? Never!”

“I have no idea what you're talking about. I—we would  _ never _ avoid Castiel.”

“Ditto, no clue—would never avoid him.”

Dean raised his brows and pursed his lips, dimples of discontent making a guest appearance. “Really? Then why is my best friend wondering why his siblings suddenly don't want to see him anymore?”

The two Novak siblings exchanged guilty looks and avoided eye contact with Dean.

“Guys. Come on. Cas is really torn up about this. Shit, yesterday he was trying to figure out what he did wrong.” 

“It's not Castiel.”

“Well it is kinda Cas.”

“It's more Jimmy. And Cas.”

Dean shook his head, “I'm getting mixed signals here.”

Neither of them clarified.

“Guys, I'm gonna get an aneurysm from trying to read your minds. Spit it out.”

“Cas looks just like Jimmy,” Gabriel said with a defeated slump of his shoulders.

“Yeah, they were  _ identical twins _ ,” Dean said slowly.

“That's the problem!” 

Anna nodded her head and said, “Every time I look at Cas, I see Jimmy.”

“Same. I can't even listen to his voice because it's exactly what Jimmy sounded like in the morning.” Gabe sighed and massaged his temples.

“...So you guys are telling me that you're avoiding Cas...because he's Jimmy’s twin?” Dean said incredulously.

“Yeah,” Gabriel said as Anna said, “Yes.”

“You’ve gotta be shitting me; that's absurd!”

“Well sorry if I don't want to see my dead brother walking around,” Gabe sneered.

“That's the thing—he's  _ not _ your dead brother! Cas is his own person, with emotions and his own personality. He’s hurting too, if you'd even bothered to check in with him. How do you think he feels about losing his twin brother? Not so fucking great!”

“Get your shit together because Cas misses his family.” Dean huffed. “Not that he deserves you assholes.” He stood, chair grating against the tile as he kicked it away. He stormed out of the bakery, not caring in the slightest that he made a scene.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

Gabe spoke after a few stunned minutes, “... He’s  _ totally _ an overprotective husband.”

“Oh yeah,” Anna agreed.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

“I wasn't sure if you would be hungry, so I made peanut butter and honey sandwiches.”

Claire made a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat and twiddled with a blade of grass.

Castiel and his niece were sitting on the field at the high school, blanket rolled out underneath them, watching Alex’s soccer practice.

“Thank you for inviting me, Claire. I haven't seen you since—,” Cas swallowed thickly, “in a while.

She scoffed and ripped out a large of the lawn. “Yeah, well thank Jody. She’s the one who said it would be good for me to go outside and spend time with family.” Cas didn't have to look over to know she wore an expression of contempt. 

“I wouldn't know. All my siblings are avoiding me. You are the first blood related family member to agree to an outing in weeks.” He followed her lead and picked at blades of grass. Benny would kill him if he knew Cas caused the sparse patches.

“I wonder why,” Claire spat sarcastically.

Cas looked at her in surprise. 

She narrowed her eyes at her uncle, “You really don't know?”

He shook his head and looked at her with wide eyes. Claire huffed, top lip curling in disdain. “You're a carbon copy of my dad. It's like watching my dead dad walk around, except it's not him.” Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears and hands clenched in fury. “ _ You're _ not him. I see you and I expect his voice to call me ‘Claire Bear’ and ask me how my day went. Except your voice is too low and you never call me ‘Claire Bear’. You didn't let me climb into your bed when I was young and had nightmares. You didn't hold my hair back while I puked my guts into the toilet when I had the stomach flu. You didn't—,” Claire’s voice wavered as a tear fell down her face, ”you didn’t tell me that when you got a promotion you'd finally get a cat.” She roughly wiped the tear away with the sleeve of her black shirt and sniffled. “I don't blame everyone for avoiding you. You're just a ghost; a visual reminder of what we can't have back.”

Cas squeezed his eyes shut as her words rung true in his mind—a traitorous tear rolling down his face. He sucked in a shaky breath. “Would you like if I left?”

“Please.”

He shuddered at how hard and cold her voice was. 

Cas stood on unstable legs and smoothed down his trench coat. “I'm sorry,” he said dejectedly.

As he was walking away, Cas heard a meek,  _ “Me too.” _

 

~•~◇~•~

 

“Cas? You home yet?” Dean just returned from his confrontation with two of Cas’ siblings. From the shuffling he heard coming from the living room, Dean guessed the youngest Novak had already returned from his impromptu picnic with Claire. 

    “If I did my job right, Gabe and Anna should be back to talking to you. They were just—” Dean stopped mid sentence when he made it around the sofa. 

Cas was curled up in the corner, wrapped in the bee blanket and Dean's plaid one. His face was tear stained and used tissues littered the general vicinity. 

“Cas,” Dean began softly, “what happened?” 

Cas sniffed loudly, causing Dean to grimace at the mucus-y sound. Dean sat down next to his friend, placing a hand where he estimated Cas’ knee was underneath the blankets, and waited patiently for him to speak.

“How can you stand to be around me? To look at me?”

Dean was taken aback by the question, expecting anything but  _ that _ . “Firstly, what the  _ fuck _ ? Secondly, what brought this on?”

“My entire family can't stand to look at me because I'm an echo of Jimmy. Hell, I haven't been able to look in a mirror. All I see is  _ him _ , and he's not here. It's only me.”

“Cas—”

“How can you look at me when I'm just a broken reminder of my de—dead brother? How ca— !”

_ “Cas!” _

Castiel snapped his attention to Dean with wild eyes. The latter rubbed circles on his bereft friend's knee. 

“I don't see you like that. You're just Cas.”

“But—”

“No buts. Let me fucking talk.” He snuck his hand under the blankets and made contact with Cas’ pajama clad knee, feeling the man relax under his touch. “I see  _ you _ . I've always seen the differences between the two of you. You kinda have to when your best friend has an identical twin,” Dean let out a chuckle. 

Cas looked like he had something to say so Dean beat him to the punch. “Your eyes are a brighter blue. It's subtle, but Jimmy’s eyes were always more grey.” His hand traveled to Cas’ face as he spoke, thumb caressing his temple lightly. Cas leaned into the touch. Dean couldn't help but notice how brilliantly  _ blue  _ his friend's eyes looked while they were red and glassy from crying. “Jimmy always put an insane amount of product in his hair to make it neat and shaved everyday. Your hair always looks artfully mussed, like you just ran your hands through it few times,” He threaded his fingers through the mop of dark hair. Cas shut his eyes. ”Or had sex. Either or. And you usually got this scruffy look going on. It works on you.” He stroked Cas’ stubble with the back of his hand, enjoying the way it tickled.

This was getting gay. 

Oh well.

Cas was gay. 

Dean was…

...not going to touch that topic with a ten foot pole.

He cleared his throat and continued, “Jimmy slumped all the friggin’ time. You sit like you've got a stick up your ass.” Dean's hand traveled to Cas’ back, where he rubbed large circles. The latter purred like a friggin’ cat. “Jimmy was pale from sitting in an office all day long. You have a tan from your runs and visits to that botanical garden.” His hand trailed down to Cas’ bicep. “I could go on for ages about how different you are from Jimmy. Don't even get me started on your personalities, because once you get me started I won't stop.” He chuckled and gave Cas’ bicep a gentle squeeze. Cas looked up at him. “You are you and  _ no one _ else. If you were anybody else, you sure as Hell wouldn't be my best friend.” 

New tears glistened in Castiel's eyes. “Thank you, Dean.”

Dean smiled softly. “Why don't you put on The Twilight Zone on while I get dressed for bed?” 

Cas nodded his assent and Dean peeled himself away and ambled down the hall.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

When Dean woke in the morning to find Cas snoozing on top of him, he didn't even bother freaking out. He simply ran his hand up and down the sleeping man's back with a fond smile. 

When Cas eventually returned to the real world, it was with a lazy smile and a  _ sinfully _ rough, “Hello Dean.” 

From then on, when they put on The Twilight Zone, it was an excuse to fall asleep in one another's arms. They didn't talk about the new unspoken rule. It just was.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I just _really _love bed sharing and cuddling tropes so you will see _so _much more of that in this fic!____
> 
>  
> 
> __  
> __  
> __  
> _I hope you enjoyed this chapter! >:)_  
>   
>   
> 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys head back to work and everyone ships destiel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took me SO long! I've just got a chronic illness and school is fucked up and I've been trying to do inktober (key word: trying). So yeah, I'm swamped but I am definitely not abandoning this work.
> 
> Please let me know if there are any typos because (as per usual) I don't have a beta :|

It was a nice Saturday afternoon, natural light streaming through the bay window to illuminate the room warmly. Charlie's hair had an almost ethereal golden glow in the sunlight, head down as she graded papers while curled up in the armchair. Castiel looked up from his own work to observe his friend. He often wondered why she wasn't in a relationship. Surely women would be throwing themselves at her. Even Cas, though he was a firm six on the Kinsey scale, could tell she was clearly a very beautiful woman. Perhaps it was her silly crush on Dorothy that—

“Have you talked to Claire since the big showdown?”

He blinked at his friend, wondering when she had stopped marking papers. “If you are referring to the picnic, then no. She has not replied to my messages or returned my calls. It is frustrating  but I understand.”

“I'm sorry Cas.”

“It is fine. Gabriel and Anna are speaking to me once again. I have Dean to thank for that.”

“How  _ did _ Dean manage to work that out?”

“I'm not exactly sure. Dean told me that he simply had a chat with them. When I asked Anna she said that Dean  _ ‘went off’ _ ,” Cas used his infamous air quotes, “...whatever that means.”

Charlie laughed. “I have much to teach you, my young padawan.”

Castiel rested his chin in the palm of his hand and squinted at nothing in particular. “Do you think Dean is refraining from returning to work for my sake?”

“Whoa, where'd that come from?” She looked at him with a crease between her brows.

“We were on the topic of Dean—”

“  _ Kinda _ .”

“—and he's been acting...off.”

Charlie raised an eyebrow.

“He’s been very restless. Cleaning the apartment when it doesn't need to be cleaned, spending more time on the impala, writing lesson plans farther in advance than usual, and he’s re-read every Vonnegut novel in our collection in under two weeks. I know Dean. He needs to go back to work to be feel productive, Charlie.”

“That makes sense...but why do you think you're holding him back?”

“It's the only thing the only reasonable explanation. I cannot think of another reason why he wouldn't return back to work when he wanted to, unless he was doing it for me. You know how he puts everyone before himself.”

“Why are you asking me for help? Sounds like you've got it all figured out.”

“...I am just now realizing that. Thank you Charlie.”

“Hey, all I did was sit here while you psychoanalyzed Dean.”

Castiel gave her a soft smile. And then a storm cloud drifted over his head.

“Cas?”

“How am I supposed to approach Dean? He is so frustratingly stubborn at times.”

“I might have the perfect plan for you…”

  
~•~◇~•~

  
Maybe this wasn't the best plan after all.

Procuring an apple pie from Gabriel’s bakery earned Castiel a raised eyebrow from his brother. It was out of the ordinary for Cas to buy a pie in the afternoon; he preferred to get first pick in the morning.

Gabe slid the pie across the counter. “Something come up, lil bro?”

Castiel let out a long suffering sigh and handed him the money. “If you must know, I am bribing Dean.”

“Pie for sexual favors...didn't know you had it in ya, Cassie!”

Cas opened his mouth to retort but decided against it—rolling his eyes was more effective.  “Goodbye Gabriel.” He picked up the pie and headed for the door.

“Remember—no glove no love!” Gabe shouted at his brother, who flipped him off. Cas was not in the mood for Gabriel’s antics.

Now, back at home with a pie on the coffee table and The Twilight Zone queued on the television, Castiel slumped on the sofa and rested his head in his hands.

Dean was due to arrive in…forty minutes according to his watch. His mind started to run rampant on all outcomes. What if Dean took it the wrong way? What if Dean misunderstood—

“Hey Cas, you home?”

Oh. Well that certainly gave Cas less time to freak out.

“Cas?”

“In the living room, Dean!”

“Sam and Jess said that—,” Dean stuttered mid sentence when he rounded the couch, eyes flying open wide. “Pie?”

Cas nodded with a timid smile. Dean shot towards an sofa and was shoveling pie down his throat in record time. Dean’s eyes flickered shut as he moaned around his first bite.

“I take it this pie is satisfactory?”

“No shit, Sherlock. It's fucking awesome.”   
“Good, good. I will let Gabriel know.” Cas fiddled with his clasped hands.

Dean swallowed a bite and looked at Cas. “Everything okay, Cas?”

“What? Yes, everything is fine.” He pried his hands apart and slid them down his legs. “You should put your pajamas on, it's another Twilight Zone night.”

Dean’s brows furrowed. “You sure you're okay, Cas?”

“Yes I'm sure, Dean. Now go put on your pajamas before I start the show without you.” Cas would never start the show without him, which Dean knew, but the man acquiesced with a grumble anyway.

Dean came back minutes later, dressed in boxer briefs and an old band tee, and flopped onto the sofa. Castiel only felt slightly overdressed in his AC/DC shirt that he  _ borrowed _ from Dean and a pair of flannel pajama pants. Dean grabbed his blanket and hit play, the introduction rolling out softly…

 

~•~◇~•~

  
Before long, Dean was tucked into his friend's side with the latter's arm slung over his shoulder.

“Dean?” Cas murmured quietly, chin nuzzling the top of Dean’s head as he spoke.

Dean hummed in response and tightened his hold on Cas’ waist.

“I've been thinking lately…”

“Uh oh. That's never good. Don't hurt yourself.”

“Dean,” he sighed in exasperation.

“Yeah, okay.” Dean chuckled. “So you were thinking…?”

“Yes. I've been thinking that it is time to return to work.”

Dean pulled away slightly, just enough to see Cas’ face. “Cas—”

“Let me speak, Dean.” Cas raised an eyebrow, as if daring Dean to interrupt him. “At first the break from work was beneficial. In the state I was in, I was unable to grade papers, let alone instruct a classroom. But over the weeks, I've been getting better. I no longer dread making lesson plans and grading students’ work—in fact, I look forward to it.

“I  _ want _ to teach in my classroom...you know how much I enjoy it. Staying home is only impeding on my healing process. It's not helping any longer. At this point, I need to live and do the things I love to be able to even start to move on from his death.

“And I think that the same applies to you. Don't think I haven't noticed how antsy you've become.” Dean opened his mouth to protest but Cas kept talking, “Charlie has notified the office that we are both returning to work on Monday. No objections. I am sure our students will be relieved to no longer have a substitute teacher.”

“Shit, Cas,” Dean huffed and dragged a hand over his face. “I don't even know what to say.”

“You are amenable to returning to work?” Cas said, suddenly apprehensive about the plan. It was a bit bold of Charlie to assume Dean would go along with it right away.

“Yeah. ‘Course. Just—are  _ you _ sure you're ready to go back to work?”

“Dean, you ask me that one more time and I  _ will _ hit you.”

“Okay, okay. Jeez, Mr. Grumpy Pants.” Dean rolled his eyes and snuggled back into Cas’ side, resting his head on his friend's chest once again. Cas let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding and melted into Dean's warm body.

No  _ ‘good nights’ _ were said, but neither men were under the illusion that they would returning to their beds to sleep.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

It was Monday, the first day back at school. Cas was a little nervous. Okay, maybe a  _ bit _ more nervous than that. How could he not be? He hadn't been to work in nearly two months; that was bound to give him some performance anxiety. Nevertheless, he was going to persevere.

Cas leaned against the edge of his desk, arms folded over his chest and ankles crossed. He tapped a nonsensical rhythm on his bicep as he looked at the clock for what seemed to be the millionth time. There were still fifteen minutes till zero period started. He rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Mr. Novak?!”

Castiel looked up to see a scrawny young man with shaggy black hair hesitantly place a backpack on a desk near the front of the classroom. If Castiel's memory served him correctly, the student’s name was Kevin. Yes, Kevin Tran in advanced placement. Every teacher was made aware that  _ Linda Tran’s _ son was in advanced placement whenever back-to-school night or parent-teacher conferences rolled around. Kevin himself was pleasant enough.

Castiel pasted on his best smile and greeted the boy, “Hello Kevin.”

“H—hi Mr. Novak. I didn't know you were back.”

“It was short notice. The office was only made aware last weekend.”

“I am so glad you are back,” Kevin gushed and sunk into his respective chair. “Not that Ms. Missouri isn't great, but…” He pulled a battered novel out of his backpack and skimmed the pages.

“I  _ have _ been informed that she takes a more  _ ‘tough love' _ approach to teaching.”

“Kevi— _ oh _ ,” Both Castiel and Kevin looked to the doorway, where Alex made her entrance, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. “Hey Mr. Novak.”

“Hello Alex. I apologize for not answering your text last night. Dean and I were...preoccupied.”

She snorted and dumped her bag on the nearest desk. “I bet.”

“What's that supposed to—nevermind.” He shook his head. “You have been spending too much time with my side of the family.”

“Am I missing something?” Both Alex and Cas’ eyes snapped to Kevin, who looked a little lost.

Castiel replied with a short, “No,” as Alex said, “Yes.”

The teacher narrowed his eyes at the teen girl, who shrugged and plopped into her chair. Cas let it slide. There was something he wanted to talk to her about and it wouldn't do him any good to be aggravated.

He pursed his lips and bit the bullet. “I've been meaning to ask you, how is Claire?”

“Okay I guess. She doesn't really talk about it.”

“Is she not your best friend  _ and _ your cousin?”

“Yeah, but she doesn't tell me everything.”

Castiel nodded, a little downcast but accepting, and looked at the clock. Five minutes until the first bell. More students would start arriving….now. 

The door clicked open, followed by a triumphant high pitched, “I told you it was open!”

A second student rolled their eyes and replied unapologetically, “Well  _ sorry _ .”

A flood of students entered the classroom, following the two bickering kids.

Castiel could appreciate his first period AP class, for they were a diligent yet quiet bunch.

“Mr. Novak! You're back!” And with that, his previous statement was deemed moot point. The entire class, barring Kevin and Alex, broke into exclamations and queries.

He tried to make out a clear question in the onslaught, but came up empty. He cleared his throat and addressed the teens, “Not that I'm not glad you are all excited that I have returned, but I am only on my second cup of coffee and I am not well equipped to answer your questions all at once. How about we try this one at a time?”

The immediate response was half of the class raising their hands.

“Much better.” Cas smiled to himself. He looked at a girl with short, blue hair. “Jaimie?”

 

~•~◇~•~

 

Cas wasted the majority of zero and first period just answering his students questions. He had always been a big advocate of students asking questions, but when it took time away from their learning, it became a problem.

By second period, Castiel realized that it was far more efficient if he wrote the answers to the most popular questions so far on the whiteboard. Plus, it was less taxing; there came a limit to how many times one could explain that their brother died if one wanted to avoid an emotional breakdown in the middle of school.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

“Mornin’, class,” Dean greeted second period, stalking the front of the classroom. “I'm sure you  _ all _ have questions, but let me start off by saying that yes, I am back for good. I know y’all are probably overjoyed that I'm back after having  _ Garth _ as your sub for a month.” He grimaced. “Trust me, I know. I wouldn't be surprised if you guys needed a lobotomy after enduring that kind of pain.” The class bursted into laughter. He waited for the giggles to subside before speaking again, “But in all seriousness, he's a pretty good teacher; even if his methods are a little…unconventional.”

Dean wiped his own smile away with a hand, knowing his next words were depressing as fuck. “So I'm sure you are all wondering why the Hell I was gone for a month and a half.” Some students nodded while others just looked on with interest. “My best friend, Mr. Novak’s, twin brother passed away. So, uh, we just needed some time to grieve and process Jimmy’s death.” The change in mood was tangible. Dean averted his eyes and cleared his throat. He  _ really _ didn't like talking about this kind of shit,  _ especially _ in front of a classroom. He clapped his hands loudly to change tracks. “Mr. Novak and I are back for good. It'd be great if you guys could go easy on him; but not too easy, I don't want that to bite me in the ass. Capiche?”

The kids let out snickers and  _ ‘capiches’ _ . Dean mentally patted himself on the back for successfully regaining the playful atmosphere.

“Now who’s ready to hear about the new assignment?”

And of course a unanimous groan sounded amongst the little fuckers.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

God decided to be merciful for once and give Dean a free period. Well,  _ nearly _ a free period. Rowena declared that she was going to take her class on a day long field trip to visit some friend of hers that owned a theater. 

    Apparently it was supposed to be a learning experience for the kids, but Dean had a sneaking suspicion that she was just trying to get into that poor guy's pants.

Anyways, back to the point. Turned out that more than half his fourth period class was in drama so he was left with a class of five kids. Thrilling.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

Dean surveyed the lackluster class. Alex Jones sat to the far left in the front row of desks, one earbud in as she reclined in her seat. A few desks over sat Max Banes, who was folding a piece of lined paper into what looked like a crane. Josephine Barnes and Aiden  _ what-the-heck-was-his-last-name _ sat in back of the class, the latter’s chair scooted close together so they could talk more freely. Dean figured there was no point in teaching the day's lesson if the majority of the class wasn't even there.

He cleared his throat. “Here’s the plan. I'm gonna take roll and then we are gonna sneak into someone else's class. I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly jumping at the chance to go over what we learned today with the drama kids. Everyone down with the new plan?”

Affirmative mumbles rippled through the room.

“Lemme do roll real quick…” He skimmed through the roll call sheet on his laptop, marked all the correct boxes, and sent in attendance. “‘Kay class, grab your bags and follow the leader.”

 

~•~◇~•~

 

Dean led his hormonal ducklings down the hall to certain blue eyed teacher's classroom.     
Alex snorted once they got to Cas’ door.   
Dean glared over his shoulder, “Got something to say, Jones?”

“Nope, I'm good.”

Dean accepted the statement somewhat reluctantly—she was Claire’s best friend for fuck’s sake—and turned the doorknob.

The room’s occupants all snapped their heads to the doorway whee Dean stood. Cas, who had been pointing at something on the whiteboard with a blue Expo marker, lowered his hand as he turned to the entryway.

“Dean?” Cas cocked his head to the side and gave his best friend an assessing look.

“Hey, Cas. I only got five kids so I was wondering if we could chill here for the rest of the period.”

"Of course, Dean.” Cas shot him a warm smile that absolutely did not make Dean's insides flutter in the slightest. “There are a few unoccupied desks your class can use for the time being.” Turning his gaze to the teens behind Dean, Cas said, “I'd appreciate it if you tried not to be disruptive; they are about to take a quiz.”

“You heard ‘im kiddos,” Dean stepped to the side and made a sweeping motion with his arm, “make yourselves comfortable and be on your best behaviour.”

Max, Alex, Josephine, and Aiden strode past the teachers, taking their seats at the available desks.

“My class,” Cas spoke, voice clear and concise, “When you are done with the quiz, please check that you have written your name, date, and class period at the top before turning it into the appropriate basket, face down. If you finish early, you may begin reading the next section in the textbook. Remember, Mr. Winchester's students are not here to socialize. I understand the compulsion to speak to your friends, but please refrain from doing so until you have free time. You may begin the quiz now.” He sat in his swivel chair and dropped the marker in its respective cup.

Dean hefted himself onto the desk, facing Cas. The latter leafed through a textbook, reading glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. Dean nudged the man’s shin with his foot.

Cas spared the sandy haired man a glance before returning to the book. “Yes, Dean?”

“How's the first day of school goin’?”

“It’s been fine. More rowdy than usual, but that's to be expected.” He licked his thumb and index finger and flipped the page.

“So you're sure this is what you want? You're one hundred percent ready to be working?”

Cas froze and looked up with a clenched jaw and narrowed eyes. Before Dean could put two and two together, there was a fist connecting with his shoulder.

“Ow,” Dean hissed, rubbing his arm. “What the fuck was that for?!”

“I was serious the other night when I warned you that if you asked me if I was  _ 'sure’ _ one more time, I would hit you. Obviously you did not heed my warning.”

“I didn’t—” Dean was cut off by a student’s guffaw. He craned his neck to see the kids gaping at himself and Cas, excited chattering now filling the previous calm.

“Dude, I think you've ruined your  _ ‘good boy’ _ reputation,” he jested as he turned back to Cas with an amused grin.

In pure Castiel Novak fashion, he rolled his eyes—loudly and dramatically if you asked Dean—and addressed the students. “If Mr. Winchester and I have distracted you, I apologize. Please return to your quiz, class.”

 

~•~◇~•~

 

“What's this I hear about our newly instated history teacher starting a wee fisticuff with his boy toy?” Rowena asked with a coy smile on her painted red lips.

So apparently gossip traveled fast in a small school.

...Which meant eating lunch in peace was not an option since the break room was full of people who worked at the school.

Rowena sat on the counter eating yogurt; Benny was on his phone at the smallest table, probably texting his fiance Andrea; Charlie sat across from Dean and Cas at the largest table, who sat right next to each other.

Cas exhaled sharply through his nose as he swallowed a bite of his peanut butter and honey sandwich. “It wasn't a fisticuff. I was simply sticking to my word.”

“I think a fisticuff requires mutual fisting,” Charlie added unhelpfully, as she dipped a chicken nugget into ketchup.

“Ew. Is  _ everything _ a lesbian innuendo with you?” Dean said, popping one of her fries into his mouth.

“Yes, obviously, ” Charlie said and slapped his hand away when he reached for another french fry. “Since when have you expected any less from me?”

“Oh I don’t know...maybe since you started teaching kids?”

“Please.” She made a face and waved her hand while holding a fry. “Some measly fifteen year olds aren't going change this gay ass.”

“That’s because your sense of humor hasn't changed since you were fifteen.”

“...I don’t know whether I should be offended or flattered by that.”

“I’d pick the former,” Cas said.

“Thanks Cas. ” Charlie smiled at him and then turned to Dean, “Fuck you Winchester.”

“Sorry Charles, but you're not really my type.”

“I know. Such a shame you usually go for blue eyes, brown hair, and a dick.”

“Really Charlie?!” Dean groaned and buried his face in his hands. “Not you too.”

“Can't help it. You guys spend like...every second together—,”

Dean removed his hands from his face to interrupt Charlie, “He's my best friend!”

“—And only a lightsaber would be able cut through all that sexual tension.”

“She’s got a point there brotha’,” Benny added as he looked up from his phone.

“Great, now Benny's joining in. Anyone else feel like implying Cas and I are a couple?”

“Seeing as I am the only person left, no I would not like to join in,” Cas deadpanned.

Charlie sighed and bit into a chicken nugget. “You guys are hopeless.”

“I concur, my dear.” Rowena shook her head, red curls bouncing wildly. “Romeo and Juliet have nothing on this tragic love story.”

“God, give me the strength not to hit a woman,” Dean muttered under his breath. Cas patted his shoulder.

And for the second time that day, God was not a complete asshole; for the bell rang loudly, signalling the end of lunch.

“Thank fuck,” Dean exhaled.

Cas snorted and folded his paper bag neatly. Charlie stuffed the remnants of her lunch into her nerdy lunch box and rose from the table.

“See ya later, bitches!” She stopped in the doorway for second to throw a Vulcan Salute at the teachers.

Dean barely repressed a fond eye roll as he and Cas followed her out of the break room.

“What do you feel like for dinner, buddy?” Dean asked as soon as Charlie skipped out of view with her Star Wars merch.

“Anything is fine.”   
“You sure?”

“Yes Dean. You know I will eat anything you make.”

“What if I made mud pie?” He waggled his eyebrows.

“You fail to remember that time when we were about seven years old and you fed me mud pie after convincing me that it was real pie. It was not a pleasant experience.”

Dean barked out a laugh. He steadied himself with a hand on Cas’ shoulder. “I promise not to make you mud pie then.”

“That would be much appreciated.”

Dean shook his head, smile still intact, and wondered how he managed to have such a doofus for a best friend.

  
~•~◇~•~

  
“Hello Jody.” Cas sat cross legged on his bed holding his cellphone to his right ear. He decided to give Jody a call while he waited for Dean to make dinner.

_ “Hey Cas.” _ Jody’s voice sounded tinny and exhausted through the speaker of the phone.

“How are you?”

_ “You know how it is. Just getting by.” _

“The girls aren’t causing you too much trouble, are they?”

_ “Believe it or not, they're actually the highlight of my day. Sure, taking care of two teenage girls isn't a walk in the park—Hell they can be such assholes sometimes—but I think it's doing them good to be around each other more. You know as well as I do—probably even better than me—that neither of them are exactly popular in school.” _

“Yes, I imagine it must be good for them to interact more. I just wish it wasn't under these circumstances.”

_ “Tell me about it.” _

“How is Amelia? I understand the odds of her waking have drastically declined…”

_ “Yeah, it's not looking good. The swelling in her brain hasn't gotten worse or better, which isn't necessarily a good thing apparently. She's still got brain waves or some shit, but they won't know how bad the damage is until she wakes up—if she wakes up.” _

“I'm sorry.”

_ “Don't be. You've got nothing to be sorry for.” _

“How is Claire holding up?”

_ “I think she thinks that if she ignores the problem then it will disappear and everything will be better.” _

“What do you mean?”

_ “Well for starters, she hasn't gone to visit her mom once. She never talks about it either. I've tried to get her to talk about it, Alex has tried. She just shuts us out and acts like she's fine, which I know she's not.” _

Cas scrubbed a hand over his face, “I wish I could do more. She could barely even look at me today in class.”

_ “If I had a solution I'd give it to ya, but I'm fresh outta ideas.” _

“I miss her.”

_ “Me too hun, me too.” _

A knock sounded at Cas’ bedroom door.

“Hold on one second Jody, Dean is at my door.” She murmured something along the lines of ‘alright’, but he had already lowered the phone and made his way to the door. He opened the door a crack to see his best friend with a dish towel thrown over his shoulder. “Yes, Dean?”

“Just lettin’ you know that dinner's ready.”

“Thank you, Dean. I'll be there in a minute.” Dean smiled and started walking away. Cas closed the door behind himself and followed Dean to the kitchen. He held the phone back to his ear. “It seems that dinner is ready, so I must let you go. It was nice speaking to you.”

_ “Likewise.” _

“If there is any development in the investigation as to what caused the car crash,  would you please call or text me?”

_ “You'll be my first call, Cas. Have a good night and say hi to Dean for me.” _

“Thank you Jody, I will. Goodnight.” He ended the call and pocketed the phone. The chorus of  _ ‘Ramble On’ _ filled the room, most likely the courtesy of Charlie installing Spotify on Dean’s phone. In front of him, at the island counter, Dean piled pasta onto two plates. Cas retrieved two forks and set them beside the plates.

“Was that Jody?” Dean commented as he put the pan of pasta back on the stove.

“Yes, she says hello.” Cas pulled out a stool and took a seat, Dean doing the same seconds later.

“How’s she?”

“About as well as you would expect.” Cas stabbed the penne pasta and took a bite. 

“The girls?”

He swallowed and swirled his fork through the sauce covered noodles. “I'm worried about Claire.”

Dean screwed up his face, looking at Cas in interest.

“She won't talk to anyone, not even Alex, and apparently she hasn't even visited her mother in the hospital.” Cas huffed. “It's certainly not healthy, but I don't think she would react well to anyone recommending she see a therapist. And she won't look at me, let alone talk to me.”

“Maybe Charlie could talk to her. Y’know she went through basically the same thing around the same age.”

Cas dropped his fork and thought back. “I remember that. Sometimes I forget she used to be Celeste Middleton.”

Dean huffed a laugh. “Me too, but it  _ has _ been like twenty years.”

Cas nodded. “So you believe Claire would listen to her?”

“Yeah. Claire might be a little stubborn sometimes, but I think she'll come around once she realizes how much she has in common with Charles.”

Cas smiled appreciatively at his best friend. “Thank you, Dean.”

“No problem Cas, it's the least I could do.” He placed a hand Cas’ shoulder and smiled. The hand quickly slid off to shovel more pasta into Dean's mouth. Cas tried valiantly to quell his disappointment as he went back to his own pasta with a bittersweet smile.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thinking of writing the next chapter from the alternating pov of Sam and Charlie. I was only planning on writing this fic in Cas and and Dean's pov, but I think the next chapter or the one after that would be better in a different pov. Let me know what you think in the comments.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set from the POV of Charlie and Sam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had SO much fun writing this! Charlie is my favorite female character on spn so I apologize if she monopolized this chapter. I couldn't help myself!

Charlie collapsed face first onto Sam's sofa with a huff, one converse shoe flying off her brightly socked foot. 

Sam chuckled from his seat on the couch opposite her, scooping Greek yogurt into his mouth. “Well hello to you too, Charlie.” He took a moment to look over the comical scene his friend made before inquiring, “Why have you stormed into my house—unannounced—and face planted onto my couch?”

“Wff vas urrwentf Zamn.”

“Sorry, can't hear you when you're making out with a throw pillow.”

She turned her head, “I sa _ —aaid _ ,  _ ‘It was urgent, Sam.’ _ ”

“Uh huh. Go on.”

Charlie supported her head on her forearms. “So, you know how I supervise the Dungeons and Dragons club after school every Monday...and it's in the library?”

Sam nodded and licked his spoon.

“Well today, when D&D was over, I walked to the parking lot with Dorothy, because she locks up when we're done, and it turns out she has a fricking motorcycle. Did you hear me Sam?! A _mother friggin’_ _motorcycle_! I swear my libido skyrocketed when she hopped on that bad boy and rode off into the sunset...” Charlie's eyes glazed over a bit as she trailed off.

“Okay, woah woah— _ waayyy _ too much information!”

“Sorry, not the point,” she shook her head. “The point of the story is that she just managed to make herself ten times more perfect.”

“Charlie—”

“I mean,  _ Sam _ . She’s so, so,  _ so  _ gorgeous. And if she wasn’t the epitome of big dick energy before, she totally is now; with that leather jacket and motorcycle and brown eyes that just pierce your soul when she looks down at you and—”

“Wait how can she have big dick energy if she doesn’t have a dick?” He scrunched his face, looking more like a puppy than a moose, for once.

“Shush Sam. It's energy, not a real dick. Girls have bigger dick energy than most guys anyway. Stop trying to side track me.”

“I'm not trying to—”

“Shush. Back to the point. She's a descendent of L. Frank Baum! Sam, she was named after Dorothy Gale! You know how obsessed I was with that book series when we were kids.” Charlie sighed dreamily, “She's just so perfect.”

“Why don't you just ask her out already?”

“What?! Sam, no! I can't do that!” Charlie scrambled into a sitting position.

“Why not?”

“For starters, I don't even know if she plays for the same team—”

“That’s never stopped you before.”

“It's different this time. We work together...in rural Kansas of all places.”

“Then don't go for your usual flirting and just drop some hints that you're interested in girls. It can't hurt to try.”

“Sam—”

“ _ Charlie _ . If you don't even  _ try _ to ask this girl out, I will do it for you. We're all sick of your pining, and I  _ really don't _ want another Dean and Cas situation on our hands.”

Charlie looked down, defeated. It seemed Sam's words finally got somewhere. 

“Okay,” she murmured.

Sam smiled victoriously around a spoonful of his yogurt.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

“Charlie really drove three hours to rant about girl troubles?” Jess asked as passed her fiance the salad dressing.

The sun had long since set, the ceiling lamp casting a harsh, warm glow on the couple seated at their dinner table.

“Yeah,” Sam grinned and shook his head as he lightly doused his salad with the dressing. “When I asked her about it later she said, and I quote,  _ ‘Can't I spontaneously drop by to see my best friend?’.  _ I guess it was better than the  _ ‘I was in your neighborhood’ _ line.”

“She's such a riot.”

“You're telling  _ me _ . I'm surprised I'm still breathing after being put through her antics my entire life.”

“Well I for one am glad she hasn't killed you yet.” Jess smiled sweetly and reached across the table to cover Sam's hand with her own. He returned the smile and interlocked their fingers.

“Did I ever tell you about this one time Charlie sent me to the emergency room by hitting me with a cardboard sword?”

 

~•~◇~•~

 

Charlie kicked her shoes off and scampered to her bedroom. Swinging the door open, she flung herself across the mattress, making the bed bounce under her sudden weight. Face planting seemed to be a common occurrence that day. Her messenger bag dug into her belly from where it was trapped between herself and the bed. She rolled over and slid the bag off her shoulder. 

“Much better,” Charlie sighed internally and closed her eyes. As much as she loved visiting her best friend, driving six hours round trip to do so...after having spent another six hours with hormonal rugrats, was not the best way to retain energy.

She dragged a hand through her hair and turned onto her side, pulling her phone out of the confines of the bag. It seemed like it would be another takeout night—she was far too tired to drive over to Mary's for a free homemade meal. 

Just as she was about to call a Chinese restaurant that was most definitely  _ not _ on her favorites list  _ (pshhh what are you talking about) _ , her phone dinged and a notification popped up. 

Ever the self sacrificial lamb, she tapped the notification instead of ordering sustenance.

 

**Cas [9:32 PM] Hello, Charlie.**

 

Despite the fact that her stomach was in the process of eating itself, Charlie smiled when she saw the text. Her thumbs moved speedily to message him back.

 

**Charlie [9:32 PM] hey Cas what's up?**

 

**Cas [9:34 PM] I have a request.**

 

“Not shady at all…” She muttered and typed out her first guess as to what her friend could possibly want. She  _ probably _ wasn't right.

 

**Charlie [9:35 PM] please dont ask me how to flirt with dean please dont ask me how to flirt with dean please dont**

 

**Cas [9:36 PM] No, Charlie. Nothing of the sort.**

 

**Charlie [9:37 PM] okay ...color me intrigued**

**Charlie [9:37 PM] lay it on me**

 

**Cas [9:39 PM] I recently spoke with Jody and she informed me that Claire refuses to tell anyone how she is and has yet to visit her mother in the hospital.**

**Cas [9:40 PM] Dean reminded me that you went through virtually the same situation as her. We think it may benefit Claire if you were to speak with her.**

**Cas [9:40 PM] You do not have to do it if you are not up to it, Dean and I simply think it might help Claire to see that she is not alone.**

 

It took her a moment to read and process the onslaught of information Cas just threw at her.

 

**Charlie [9:42 PM] wow**

**Charlie [9:42 PM] okay**

**Charlie [9:42 PM] yeah I'll do it**

**Charlie [9:43 PM] sounds like a plan**

 

**Cas [9:45 PM] Thank you, Charlie. It means a lot to me. <3**

 

**Charlie [9:46 PM] np Cas <3**

 

**Cas [9:48 PM] I do have one more request though.**

 

She raised an eyebrow.

 

**Charlie [9:49 PM] oh?**

 

**Cas [9:49 PM] Could you not mention me...or Dean for that matter? She still resents me and I want her listen to you without any bias.**

 

Charlie bit her lip and reluctantly agreed. It wasn't how she would do things in an ideal world, but Cas’ niece was stubborn...and in a dark place. It made sense that the girl might ignore everything Charlie had to say if she even mentioned Dean or Cas,  _ just on principle _ .

 

**Charlie [9:50 PN] ok i can do that**

 

Her stomach let out an angry grumble.

 

**Charlie [9:50 PM] jeez it's late I gotta get some food**

**Charlie [9:51 PM] love you! talk later?**

 

**Cas [9:51 PM] Alright. I love you as well.**

 

**Charlie [9:52 PM] byeeeeee :)))**

 

**Cas [9:53 PM] Goodbye Charlie :)**

 

She exhaled and pulled up the Chinese restaurant's number once again.

Time for food. 

 

~•~◇~•~

 

Sam scrubbed his face with both hands. Some days he loved his job and other days...well it started to take its toll.

He let out a breath and organized the papers on his desk back into their respective folders. Though it meant he had an easy custody case, looking through boxes full of medical records with injuries corresponding to child abuse was never fun.

Sam took a minute to look at the framed photos he purposely set on his desk and nailed to wall for times like these—when he needed a reminder that there was good in the world. 

The picture closest was of Jess dipping Sam for a kiss in front of their newly bought house. Though the picture turned out great, seconds after Charlie caught the moment, Sam bent backwards a little too far and fell to the ground—dragging Jess with him. Charlie ended up dropping the camera from laughing too hard, but thankfully the memory card wasn't damaged.

The second photo was an old one of Dean, Cas, and Jimmy putting on a puppet show for Sam. He remembered that the power went out while they were watching Thundercats, causing Sam to burst into tears (don't judge, he was only about three years old). Dean and the twins managed to save the day by reenacting the show behind the sofa with various toys and puppets. All those years later, he still thought back to that memory fondly.

The last photo on his desk was a picture of Sam and Charlie dressed up as Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf for Halloween in fourth grade. Charlie's fake beard, elderly voice impression, and long robe she kept tripping over, all chalked up to a hilarious night. It was weird to think that there was a time when Sam's best friend was a couple inches taller than him.  _ Oh how the tables had turned. _

__ He looked up at the wall space next to the doorway, where a bigger picture was framed. It was taken the night his family called an emergency family dinner when he received the results of his bar exam. Everyone he loved was there; his parents, Jess, Charlie, Dean and Cas, Jimmy and his wife and kid, Bobby, Ellen and Jo, Gabriel, Anna, and Jody and Alex. It meant so much to him that everyone got together to celebrate his achievements, so much so that he  _ might _ have shed a couple of tears that day. They had to break out the wobbly tripod to be able to include everyone in the photo. It was a nice reminder that he had people who made his world a little better.

He was shaken from his nostalgic reverie when his phone buzzed. 

 

**Jess [12:02 PM] Flood of patients were just admitted to the ER. Looks like I won't be able to make it to lunch. Sorry honey:( <3**

 

Sam frowned and his thumbs moved rapidly to type out a response.

 

**Sam [12:03 PM] That's too bad, sweetheart. Will you be home in time for dinner?**

 

**Jese [12:04 PM] Tbd. The rush will slow down eventually, but idk if all my patients will be released by the time I want to clock off.**

 

**Sam [12:04 PM] Okay. I guess we could go over the wedding color scheme tomorrow??**

 

**Jess [12:04 PM] Sounds good. Gtg love you xoxo**

 

**Sam [12:05 PM] Love you too xoxo**

 

He turned off his phone with a smile, ready to sift through the file box.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

Charlie clicked her pen as she tried to psych herself up. She could do adult things. She did adult things  _ all _ the time! She paid the bills and drove a car and had a job and did her taxes and….how hard could having a talk with a teenager be?

Charlie internally scoffed and abandoned the pen, looking across the computer room where her class typed away on the keyboards.

She knew just how difficult teenagers could be, considering she used to be one...and she taught them five days a week.

She dragged a hand through her ginger hair as she glanced at the clock. Sixth period was almost over. Charlie set the pen down and prepared to use her teacher voice. 

“Alright class, five minutes till the bell rings. Start cleaning up and packing up your supplies. Make sure to turn in any assignments if you didn't get the opportunity earlier. Tomorrow is the last day to work on your slideshows in class, so please use that time wisely.” She walked around the room as the students shut down the computers and put their folders in their backpacks. The room was filled with the sound of rustling papers, backpacks zipping, and scooting chairs. 

Charlie stopped behind a familiar head of blonde hair. “Oh! I almost forgot! Sign up sheets for the Moondoor event are by the door. Please get those signed and turned in by Friday if you're interested in participating.” 

She leaned down and asked in a hushed voice, “Claire, can you stay after class please?”

The girl looked up at Charlie and sighed. “Sure.”

“Great!” Charlie bounced back to her full height with a smile and strode to the front of the class. “Class is dismissed once the bell rings.”

Almost as if on command, the shrill bell sounded and all the students flooded out the door. All but one student, that is.

Claire, with her arms crossed over her chest and her backpack slung over a shoulder, walked up to Charlie. The teen cleared her throat and arched a filled-in eyebrow. “What is it?” 

How was she going to broach this? Maybe she should build up to it? Yeah that was a good plan. “I noticed you haven't turned in a signed form for Moondoor yet. Is there a reason for that?”

“C'mon Aunt Charlie, don't you think we're a little too old to be playing make believe?”

“Nope! You're never too old to play make believe. And even if there was an age limit, LARPing is more than just a game of make believe. It's about transforming into a different person and living in their world; having fun and letting loose; teamwork and strategizing. It's the grown up version of make believe. So...you gonna turn that form in?” Charlie winked.

Claire pressed her lips together and let out a puff of air through her nose. She swung her backpack off her shoulder and unzipped it, sticking her arm in to fish around. She pulled out a crumpled packet and handed it to Charlie. “Happy now?” 

Charlie looked down at the packet in her hands to find it signed, a little more than well loved, but signed. She made eye contact with Claire and shot her a toothy grin. “Sure am.”

“Can I go now?”

Charlie thought for a moment. This could be an opening time to talk about that  _ thing _ that she initially meant to, but how would she even start that conversation without Claire freaking out? Maybe she could—oh wait. Claire had asked her a question and she still hadn't answered. Perhaps it would be better to postpone that talk until she had it planned better. “Yep! Go ahead and skedaddle.”

Claire headed to the door. 

“See ya later Claire.”

“Bye Aunt Charlie,” Claire said without looking back.

Once the girl was out of sight, Charlie sighed. She couldn't wait to boot up Animal Crossing once she got home and  _ relax _ .

 

~•~◇~•~

 

“My bitches!” Charlie exclaimed when her friends entered the teacher's lounge. She'd been sitting in the empty room for ten minutes waiting for them...which felt like an eternity since she left her phone in her classroom.

“Heya Charlie,” Dean said as he set two papers bags on the table and plopped into a chair.

“Hello Charlie.” Cas took his seat besides Dean, as per usual. 

“Where is everyone?” Dean said as he unwrapped a sandwich.

Charlie crunched on a cheeto. “Well Missouri has yard duty and Andrea and Benny are eating out. And Rowena's probably in the library reading all the books on world domination.” Her friends nodded along and started their lunch. “Anything new?”

Dean swallowed a rather large bite of his sandwich and said, “Mom called and said that she's starting Sunday dinners again.”

“Really? The last time we had one of those, camera phones were new to the market.”

“Yeah well apparently she thinks we're all avoiding her and dad. She told me that we wanted more family time because she never sees us.”

“What?! I visit almost every day!”

“Okay. She thinks everyone  _ but _ you is avoiding them.”

Charlie smiled in victory.

“Okay, okay wipe that smug grin off your face. Don't go around acting like you're above everyone else just because you're mom's favorite.”

Cas squinted at Dean, “Dean, you're John's favorite.”

“No I  _ was _ dad's favorite.”

Cas set a hand on Dean's shoulder. “Don't be silly, Dean. I'm sure he's gotten past his anger towards you picking the education system over the family business.”

“I wouldn't put it past him if he hasn't,” Dean grumbled, which Charlie promptly ignored.

“So we're going to family dinner after day two if Moondoor?”

“I assume so.” Cas picked up a baby carrot and turned to look at his (boy)friend, “Dean, did Mary give you a time?”

“Yeah, she told us to come by at seven.”

Charlie thought for a second before saying, “That should work! If I get the teenyboppers to help everyone pack up, we should be able to make it on time.” 

“What, no warp speed?” Dean joked.

“I'm afraid my only mode of transportation is Humphrey the Beetle, not the Millennium Falcon,” Charlie said wryly.

“Well get on that Charles!”

“Whatever you want, handmaiden.”

Dean rolled his eyes and turned to the man sitting beside him. “Cas! Can you believe her!? I was her handmaiden once. Once!”

Charlie just about hit them both over the head when she saw the fond look Cas gave him. When would those two idiots ever get their act together?

  
  



	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was the result of insomnia and was almost exclusively written at 4am over the span of a week.
> 
> Quick disclaimer: I don't really know anything about LARPing. My tiny amount of knowledge comes from that spn ep, LARP and the Real Girl, and this one time that I ate lunch at a park and some kids were doing a Lord of the Rings LARP.

“Rise and shine, bitches! It's Moondoor weekend!” Charlie yelled as she barged into Dean's bedroom.

    Dean flinched and rolled onto his front. “What the hell? It's too early for this shit, Charles,” he moaned into his pillow.

    “Too bad; the Queen of Moons wouldn't be the same without her trusty handmaiden! Get up and put your face on!”

    Dean groaned, “I'm not your handmaiden.”

    “Yes you aaaarre,” she singsonged as she stalked off to her next unsuspecting victim.

    Charlie peeked her head into Cas’ doorway. “Castiel! My gallant knight, wake up!” The man in question pulled his covers over his head and grumbled something intelligible. Charlie plopped herself at the foot of his bed. “C’mon Cas. Moondoor needs their best strategist in order to secure their fate!“

    “I will never know what possessed me to agree to this waste of potential sleep,” Cas grumbled even as he rolled out of bed.

    “You’ll be singing a completely different tune in a few hours,“ Charlie said as she ruffled his tangled hair and fled from the room. With a grin, she rubbed her hands together eagerly. She had a feeling this would be the best game yet.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

Once again, Charlie was thanking her brilliance.

    When she first started up Moondoor, it was just a game that she and Sam would put on once a year and pray to God that _somebody_ would show up. They put up fliers in grocery shops, telephone poles, and Bobby and Ellens’ businesses, but it never guaranteed any kind of turnout.

    But now that Charlie had students that she could bribe with extra credits and Sam had plenty of lawyer buddies that needed to de-stress, Moondoor was flourishing with LARPers.

    So as she sipped on her iced coffee under a shady tree and watched teenagers pitch tents, Charlie thanked her brilliance for getting herself out of the laborious part of LARPing.

    “Charlie!”

    She whipped her head around to see Dean coming towards her, followed by a brunette teen in a tunic who seemed to be nursing their index finger.

    “Hey, Mandy here got a splinter. You happen to know where the tweezers are?“

    “Oh man, that sucks. I think the tweezers are in my car.” Charlie stood and patted away the dirt off her backside with her free hand. She outstretched a hand to Mandy, and, in her best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice, said, “Come with me if you want to live.“

    Dean barked out a laugh. “That was terrible, Charles.”

    Charlie shrugged. “Oh well. I try.” She threw the Vulcan Salute at Dean and grabbed the girl's good hand. “Come on, Mandy. Lets get that finger of yours fixed up. You can trust me, one of my friends is a doctor—well, psychologist—but still, she works in the hospital.”

 

~•~◇~•~

 

“So how'd you get that splinter anyway? Stocks?” Charlie asked as they walked back to camp, the teen's finger now splinter free and wrapped in a bandaid.

    Mandy nodded.

    “Yikes. Been there, done that. That puppy does not want to stay sanded.” Charlie shuddered.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

“Dear followers of Moon, Elves, warriors of Yesteryear, and the feared Shadow Orc—we gather here to today to kick off the annual battle of the kingdoms!” Charlie declared as she rounded the clearing sounded by fellow LARPers. Dean stood behind her, dressed in a dusty red tunic. “You have all chosen your allegiance, now go join your ranks!” A smile broke out across her face. “May the games begin!”

    Charlie turned to Dean as the crowd dispersed. “Handmaiden, would you so kind as to gather my knights and squires? I'd like to establish a plan of attack as soon as possible.”

    Dean affectionately rolled his eyes. “Of course, my queen.”

 

~•~◇~•~

 

“I thank you all for your help. You may now be dismissed to your stations,” Charlie addressed her troops. “Handmaiden,” she looked to Dean and then Cas, ”Sir Tippens, could you please stay behind for a moment?”

    “Yes, your royal highness?”

    “Hold. Okay bitches. _‘Mission: Help Claire Without Letting It Slip That Dean And Cas Are In Charge Of The Helping’_ commences today, so if you two could stay clear of me for a bit and, I dunno, caboodle _away_ from us, that'd be great.”

    “You mean stay away from you in general, or…” Dean started.

    “Do you have an estimated time block in which we should avoid you?” Cas finished his sentence.

    “Uhhh, not really? I mean— I'm gonna try to track her down when we're done having this super covert meeting, but other than that? No idea.”

    “Well Cas and I could stick together and find some Incredibles place to hideout. Right, Cas?”

    “Of course, Dean.”

 

~•~◇~•~

 

“Claire!” Charlie exclaimed as she finally  found the girl, dressed in grey, walking down the path leading to the forest.

    “Aunt Charlie.”

    “Hey, ‘round these parts, folks refer to me as Queen.” She playfully bumped Claire's shoulder.

    “Good for them.”

    They walked side by side, afternoon sunlight filtering through trees, causing polygons of light to be scattered along the dirt path.

    “How are you?”

    “Peachy.”

    Charlie paused before saying, “You know you can talk to me about anything, right? I know what you're going through.”

    “Really? You know what I'm going through? So did your dad die in a car accident and your mom end up in a coma?” Claire snarked with a curled top lip.

    “Yeah actually.”

    Claire jerked, head swinging to meet Charlie's, eyes wide.

    “When I was twelve, Sam and I had a sleepover for the first time. I got scared in the middle of the night and called my parents. They got hit by a drunk driver on the way to pick me up.”

    The blondie's face crumbled.

    “My dad died on impact but my mom—last  year I finally signed the papers to take her off life support. They say she died peacefully.”

    “I'm sorry.”

    “It's okay.” Charlie squeezed her shoulder. “It's not like I talk about it a lot—in fact I tried to put it behind me for the longest time.

    “That's definitely not a good plan. The guilt eats at you until it's the only thing you can think about and you've pretended for so long that you don't know how to be _you_ anymore.

    “But I had people to help me. I had the Winchesters. No matter what, they were always there to help me get up off the ground and push me towards the light at the end of the tunnel.

    “So I guess what I'm saying is, if you need someone to talk to, I'm here. If you need someone to talk for you, I'm here. If you just need silence and someone who's not going to judge you, I'm here. Just please, please don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. There's no shame in needing someone to lift some of the weight off your shoulders.”

    Eyes downcast, Claire swallowed and nodded.

    “So, where were you headed before I commandeered you?”

    “I dunno. I just wanted to get away from the crowd.”

    “Well if we keep walking for a bit, there's this field of flowers right next to this pond. It's kinda magical if you ask me.”

 

~•~◇~•~

 

“...and if we turn here, it should be right—” Charlie faltered. Only about 16 meters away, Dean and Cas were sitting on a blanket, eating.

    “Claire,” Charlie stage whispered, practically vibrating from excitement, “do you know what this means!?”

    Claire, whose eyebrows were near her hairline, said, “Dean and Cas finally got their heads out of their asses and confessed their pathetic love for each other?”

    “Exactly!” Charlie whispered, barely able to hold back a squeal of delight. “Oh my gosh! I have to text Sam!” She took out her phone and snapped a picture of the two men smiling and leaning into one another.

 

**Charlie [1:32 PM] AKSJJSGSHDNSJXJ IT FINALLY HAPPENED [attachment]**

 

Charlie, still beaming, took one last look at her friends before tugging on Claire's sleeve. “C'mon, lets give these lovebirds a moment.”

 

~•~◇~•~

 

_“And you just, what? Bumped into them?”_

    Charlie was lying on her cot, disclosing the juicy deets from earlier to Sam. “I mean, yeah! I was showing Claire that pond with all the flowers and when we got there— _boom!_ A DeanCas picnic date was in session!”

    _“I just—wow.”_

    “I know, right?!”

    _“And you're_ _sure_ _that it was a date?”_

    “Well it looked pretty gay to me.”

    Sam huffed a laugh. _“A lot of things look gay to you. Especially when it comes to Dean and Cas.”_

    “You're not wrong.”

    _“It could've just been Dean and Cas looking stupidly in love with each other.”_

    “I—I don't know Sam, it looked pretty legit…”

    _“Okay then, if you're sure.”_

    “I'm not one hundred percent sure, but, you saw the picture. It really looked like a full homo picnic, Sam.”

    _“Okay. I trust you. I just didn't want to get my hopes up just to have them dashed, y'know?”_

    “I know. Big time.”

_“We should probably wait to congratulate them, too.”_

    “Wait, why?!”

_“Wouldn't it be better if we let them get settled before throwing a party for them? I mean, Charlie, they just together yesterday.”_

    “Okay. You're probably right.”

 

~•~◇~•~

 

“My queen, have we cemented a plan of attack?” Cas asked Charlie as he caught up to her. It was now the second day of the game, the day of the battle, and he wanted to be prepared.

    When Charlie looked up at him, she gave him an unsettling smile. There was something dancing behind her eyes that he couldn't quite place.

    “Charlie?”

    “Huh? Oh yeah. I worked on it a bit more last night, but you should take a look at it and make adjustments accordingly.”

    “Thank you.”

 

~•~◇~•~

 

“Dude, has Charlie been weird around you, or is it just me?” Dean asked as soon as he sat beside Cas on the grass. They were eating lunch next to the pond, as they did the previous day. It was always a gorgeous view during the weekend they LARPed.

    “No, there was definitely something off about our interaction earlier,” he replied.

    Dean handed Cas his lunch. “Huh. Wonder what's up with her.”

 

~•~◇~•~

 

By the time night had fallen, they'd managed to reclaim the crown, previously held by the Shadow Orc, who had snatched it the year before by playing dirty.

    Endorphins wearing off from the battle, Dean and Cas were exhausted and caked in mud. Now that Moondoor was safe for the time being, the two teachers headed back to the car.

    Dean threw his and Cas' duffle bags into the trunk. He shut the trunk, leaving a muddy handprint behind. He scowled. “As much as I love beatin’ Sammy and those Shadow Orcs with a wooden sword, it friggin’ sucks that we gotta get Baby all dirty.”

    “I _did_ tell you yesterday to bring towels to place on the seat,” Cas said as he got into the passenger's side of the car.

    Dean got into the driver's side with a scrunched face and said, “When?”

    “When we were eating the horrendous toast Charlie prepared for us.”

    “Cas, that was ass o'clock in the morning! How the hell am I supposed to remember that when I was barely even awake?”

    “That's a gross exaggeration, Dean. As I remember it, you were far more alert than I was. Perhaps you simply weren't listening to me,” Cas said.

    The two continued to squabble as they buckled into the Impala and headed to the family dinner.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

As soon as Dean and Cas arrived at the family home, they took turns showering and changing into clean clothes; not having to worry about exchanging pleasantries since Mary and John were out on an impromptu grocery shopping trip.

    Once they were presentable, Dean and Cas retired to the living room and settled down on a sofa together. Dean slumped over, head resting on Cas’ shoulder, causing warmth to spread though the farmer's chest.

    “Dean, Castiel! We're home!” Mary said as the front door swung open, inadvertently startling Dean out of his sleepy stupor.

    “Boys?” John called.

    Cas tugged a reluctant Dean off the sofa and practically dragged him into the foyer where Dean's parents were hanging up their coats.

    “Hello, Mary,” Cas smiled at her. “John.” He nodded at the man, who acknowledged him with a reciprocal nod and a pat on his shoulder.

    “It's just _‘mom’_ at this point, sweetie.” Mary returned Cas’ smile and pulled him into a hug.

    “Alright, Mar— mom.”

    “That's better.” She relinquished him from her hold and turned to her eldest son with open arms. “Get over here, honey.”

    He stepped into arms and muttered a greeting into her neck, “Hey, mom.”

    When Dean stepped away, John firmly  placed a hand between his shoulder blades. “Son.”

    “Dad,” Dean said giving his dad a small smile before moving away to pick up a milk jug and grocery bag. “Me ‘n Cas'll put away the groceries.” He gave Cas a significant look and the two of them quickly grabbed the groceries and hurried to the kitchen.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

It wasn't long until other people started showing up. First came Charlie, Sam, Claire, Alex, and Jody, who had all carpooled after cleaning up at Jody's. Next came Bobby, Ellen, and Jo. Last was Gabriel, who had never been known for being punctual. Anna couldn't make it because she had a night shift that she couldn't find anyone to cover her for.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

“Claire, pass me the potatoes,” Jo said.

    They were all sitting around the table, dinner just beginning.

    “Dude, don't you have enough?”

    “No.”

    “...Okay.” She acquiesced and passed her the bowl.

    “So, how did you live action play thing go?” Mary asked after taking a sip of sweet tea.

    “It went great! We managed to secure the—” Charlie was cut off by the shrill ringing of the landline phone.

    Mary made to get up, but Cas stopped her by saying, “I'll get it.” He squeezed Dean's shoulder on his way up and retreated to the hallway where the phone sat on a bureau.

    He picked up the phone. "Winchester household. This is Castiel Novak speaking. How may I help you?" _U_

 _"Uh, hi. Can I talk to John Winchester?"_ The voice was tinny over the line, but it was clear that it belonged to an adolescent male.  

    "May I ask who is speaking?"

 _"Oh. I'm Adam Milligan,"_ the boy paused, _"his son."_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BET YOU WEREN'T EXPECTING THAT, WERE YOU!
> 
>  
> 
> As per usual, comments are much appreciated!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! I am back with a new installment! This was such a fun chapter to write, so I hope y'all enjoy it!
> 
> I just want to throw out a disclaimer: I will not ever be abandoning this fic. Just know that if it takes me awhile to publish a chapter, it just means that my life was busy and/or I was having trouble writing. I'm honestly way too invested in this damn thing to abandon it.  
> And if you've been subscribed, then you know I update sporadically. My chronic illness paired with school doesn't leave me a lot of time to focus on this hobby, but I try my best :)

Castiel froze, not quite processing what the boy had said. _His son. His son. His son._

    Cas released a shaky breath and flexed his now clammy hand on the phone. "His son? I think you are mistaken, John does not have a son by the name of Adam."

    _“He works at Singer's Auto, right?"_

   Cas faltered. "Yes bu—"

   "Castiel, sweetie? Who's on the phone?" Mary called from the other room

   Cas looked down at the phone in his hand, heart in his throat and sweat rolling down his back like sheets of ice.

    Adam continued talking in his ear. _“...six feet tall and have dark hair and brown eyes?”_

    “Cas?” Sam parroted.

    _“I'm nineteen years old, if that helps.”_

    Cas squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed. “Adam, would you mind waiting for one moment?”

    _“Huh? Oh, sure.”_

    He muted the phone and walked slowly back into the dining room. He vaguely wondered if he looked as sickly as he felt. The conversations dropped off one by one as he came into view. He cleared his voice. “An Adam Milligan is on the line,” Cas stated, voice carefully devoid of any emotion. “He is adamant that John is his father.” He scanned his eyes over the faces of his friends and family, noting how everyone had gone uncomfortably still. John was pale as a sheet. Mary stared unblinkingly at Cas.

    “Oh shit,” Claire murmured.

    Bobby jumped into action. “Y'know what? A burger sounds real good right ‘bout now.” He scooted his chair away from the table and stood, giving his wife and daughter not-too-subtle looks.

    “But—,” Jo mournfully protested as she motioned to her potatoes.

    Ellen glared at her and grabbed her arm. “Lovely seeing y'all, but we should go,” Ellen said and the three of them were collecting their coats and running out the door.

    Jody offered an awkward smile. “We should get going too...”

    “Are you ser—,” Claire was cut off by Jody and Alex manhandling her out of the chair.

    “I just remembered that I had a… thing to get to,” Gabriel said, ever so eloquently, and made his quick exit alongside the girls.

    That left only Castiel, Dean, Sam, Charlie, Mary, and John.

    “Is it true?” Mary said, voice painfully even.

    Castiel saw her jaw clench. He took a few steps forward and placed his hand on Dean's shoulder. The latter reached up and intertwined their fingers.

    John turned away from all the accusing looks.

    Mary slammed her hand against the table, the dishes clattering from the force of it. With fire in her eyes, she raged, “Is it true!?”

    The silence that followed was deafening.

    “Yes.”

    Dean leapt up from his seat, dislodging his hand from Cas’. “You son of a bi—!”

    “Dean, don't!” Cas grabbed Dean's arm with both hands, but Dean twisted out his hold. John was out of his chair and Dean was shooting after him and—

    Needless to say, no one ever got around to seeing if Adam was still on the line.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

“You idiot!” Cas seethed as he disinfected Dean's split lip. “I can't believe you!”

    They were back home. Dean was sitting on the counter, Castiel standing between his legs, mending his friend's wounds.

    “Nice to know that after all these years I can still keep ya in your toes,” Dean joked, but it fell flat.

    Cas leveled Dean with an icy glare. “Unless you want a mouth full of Neosporin, I'd recommend you shut up.” With a q-tip, he rubbed the antibiotic cream onto the wound. Dean flinched and Cas’ other hand came up to cradle his jaw. He tsked. “You are so reckless.”

    “I'm aware,” Dean snarked.

    Cas shook his head. Stepping away, he dropped the q-tip into the trash as he went to the freezer. He retrieved two ice packs and went back to the counter, handing one to Dean, before sitting beside him on the counter. Dean pressed the the ice pack to his lip with a wince. Cas applied his own to his abdomen, over top of his shirt.

    Dean averted his eyes. “I'm sorry.”

    Cas deflated. “It's okay.”

    “It isn't okay. You and Sam got hurt because—”

    “Dean, I understand. It's alright.”

    “But—”

    “No buts.”

    “It's just,” Dean set the ice pack down, balling his hands into fists, irrespective of his bruised knuckles, ”my friggin’ _God_. I can't believe he—that ass!” He gritted his teeth. “How could he that to us—to mom?!”

    “I don't know, Dean.” Cas pursed his lips.

    “He just—it's not fair. It's not fair!”

    “No, it's not.”

    “What a fucking ass. Another kid. Another kid! Great. Just _great_.” Dean roughly wiped both hands over his face, grunting when he came into contact with his split lip. Cas picked up the ice pack and held it against Dean's lip. The ice pack was taken from his hands as soon as Dean started talking again. “When'd dad even have enough time knock up some chick in between work and the drinking?”

    “Well Adam said that he is nineteen years old. Which would mean he was born in… 1999.”

    Dean let out a rueful laugh. “Wow, that motherfucker. The friggin’ year Charlie lost her parents and we took her in? That year?!”

    Cas grimaced. “I'm afraid so.”

    “He made that year _miserable_ for us! Mom was all for lookin’ after Charlie, but all dad went on and on about how it was _“just another mouth to feed”_ and how _“we aren't millionaires”_ and _“are we takin’ in strays now?”._ I knew it drove mom and dad apart, but still, takin’ in  another kid shouldn't make you cheat on your fucking wife!”

    “Perhaps there are some details we are not aware of.”

    “There always is, ” Dean sighed. He leaned his head back against the cupboards and shut his eyes.

    Cas observed his friend for a moment. His face was pinched, under eyes dark, and posture absolutely dejected. From what he knew to be true in the past, Dean was exhausted.  “Dean,” he started gently.

    “Hm.”

    “I think it's time for bed.”

    “Okay.” He didn't move.

    Cas hopped down from the counter and loosely wrapped his hand around his friend's wrist. Tugging a bit, he said, “Come on.”

    Dean conceded, scooting off the counter gracelessly. Cas led him to Dean's bedroom, where, once inside, Dean promptly collapsed face first onto the memory foam mattress.

    Cas sighed and resigned himself to the task of undressing the man. He rolled Dean onto his back with a grunt. “You big baby, “ he muttered as he unbuckled Dean's pants while trying to tamp down a blush. He thought he heard Dean mumble something that resembled, “ _I'm your baby”_ , but he wrote it off as the exhaustion getting to him.

    As pants pooled around the bow-legged man’s ankles, Cas said, “You get to kick them off.” Dean grunted but followed through, managing to kick them right in Cas' face.

    “Thanks,” he said dryly. Dean hummed and got under his covers.

    When Castiel was about to turn around to leave, Dean said, “Cas, wait—,” he swallowed. “Can you stay. For awhile? I—I don't..”

    Cas melted. “Of course, Dean.”

    And that's how Castiel found himself under the covers of Dean's bed with his arms full of a sleepy yet emotional Dean.

    “Shhhh,” Cas hushed as he ran a hand through Dean's hair. Dean sniffled and hid his face in the crook of Cas’ neck. “It will be okay, I promise. I'm here for you.” Cas bit back an _“I love you”_.

    “How can you be sure, though?” Dean choked out. “He ruined our family.” Cas felt hot tears staining his neck.

    “Your family will just be different now. I'm your family, right?” He felt Dean nod. “Maybe you won't be able to fix the dynamics with John, but you have so many people who love and support you. It's not the end. Okay?” He very nearly placed a kiss in Dean's hair.

    “Okay.”

 

~•~◇~•~

 

When Dean woke up, it was to the sight of Cas fast asleep; hair sticking up in every direction and chapped lips parted. Rays of sunlight peeking through the blinds casted a stripes of gold across his body. He looked gorgeous.

    With a lazy smile Dean thought, _“I love him so damn much.”_ He froze. He just—did he? Oh God. It was one thing admitting that if Cas were a stranger in bar, Dean would totally take him home—which he'd come to terms with ages ago—but _love_? That was a whole other can of worms that he hadn't even let himself consider.

    But now—seeing Cas in Dean's bed, fast asleep, looking so serene—Dean wanted to wake up this way for the rest of his life. And if that thought wasn't just as intoxicating as it  was terrifying, Dean didn't know what was.

    His alarm set off with a screech, pulling Dean from his frankly overwhelming thoughts. Now he had to spend the rest of his day with the newfound knowledge that— _well,_ _fuck_ —he was in love with his best friend.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

It certainly wasn't a walk in the park.

    The morning had been kinda awkward, and it was one-hundred percent Dean's fault. Making breakfast for Cas was just—well it was _different_ . It felt so _domestic_ in a way that was so damn close to what he wanted, but _not quite_ there. He wanted to place a kiss in Cas’ messy hair as walked around the counter instead of squeezing his shoulder. He wanted to kiss the syrup off his face instead of throwing a napkin at him. He wanted to hug him from behind and nuzzle his neck while Cas washed the dishes; instead he playfully pushed his shoulder and told him to hurry up. What Dean truly wanted was _just_ out of reach and it was killing him.

    So sue him if conversation was a little stilted or he found himself having to drag his eyes away from Cas. He'd work with it. Everything would be fine. Cas was his best friend and he wouldn't trade that for the world. Somehow he'd just have to stuff his dreaded feelings back into the box they'd been in for God-knows-how-long.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

Standing in his first period English class, Dean was having a minor freakout. Okay maybe a little more than minor.

    While his students were practically dead to the world, Dean wondered how the hell he would make it through the day without making a fool of himself. God knows how he did it, but Dean managed to pass out worksheets and tell the class to follow the directions on the board. His mind just kept wandering back to Cas; specifically how in the world Dean was going to act like a sane human being around the man. There was no way he could possibly avoid him. They spent most of their time together and Cas would notice if Dean suddenly…stopped.

    But Dean was bursting at the seams with the newfound knowledge of the extent of his feelings for Cas and—quite frankly—he was a hot mess because of it.

    Maybe it would help if he—

    He had to tell someone.

 

~•~◇~•~

 

At the first chance he got, which happened to be break, Dean rushed to Charlie's classroom. He pulled the door open and swiftly locked it behind him.

    Charlie startled from where she was seated behind her desk, reading a book with a yellow cover. She looked up. “Dean, wha—”

    “I have something to tell you.”

    “That's ominous.”

    "I um," Dean swallowed back the bile rising in his throat and dug his nails into his clammy, fisted hands. He just needed to get this over with. He took a deep breath before continuing shakily, "I think I'm in love with Cas."

   There was a pregnant pause before Charlie replied. "...okay?"

    He looked up to meet Charlie's eyes. She looked kinda confused. “That's it? Your straight friend admits he has a giant gay crush on his childhood best friend and the best you can come up with is 'okay'?"

    "Oh...I thought—" Charlie bit her bottom lip before hurriedly saying, "nevermind."

"If you have something to say, say it." Dean clenched his jaw and crossed his arms over his chest and.

    "It's just, we kinda thought that you and Cas were dating."

    "You—wait, _what?_ ”

    "I mean it's not really that much of a stretch. You guys live together, practically spend every waking second together, and have the most fracking intense eye sex I've ever seen. The UST—that by the way, I thought for sure was resolved—is off the charts. All the longing stares when you think the other person isn't looking—just mind numbing!

    “We've been suffering for years and when you guys started doing more couple-y things we just—well we just assumed. When we saw you guys having a picnic during Moondoor, it was a no brainer that you guys finally got your heads out of your asses and did something!" Charlie's chest was heaving after her rant.

    “Oh.”

    “By the way, no straight guy loves Han Solo _that_ much.”

    Dean spluttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: the conversation between Dean and Charlie was the first thing I wrote for this entire story. It's been sitting in my notes for such a long time and it feels great to finally be able to throw it into the fic!

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and/or a comment! Comments are like crack for me. It's Christmas when I see a new one in my inbox. Feel free to leave 2 words or an essay!
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @ dontbelasagnax


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